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The Divine purpose 


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DIVINE PURPOSE: 


DISPLAYED 


IN THE 


WORKS OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE; 


IN A SERIES OF 


LETTERS TO AN INQUIRING FRIEND. 


BY 
v 


y, 
REV. JOHN MATTHEWS, D. D. 


Prof. Theology in Theol. Sem’y, Indiana. 
8) y> 


PHILADELPHIA: 


PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
WILLIAM S. MARTIEN, PUBLISHING AGENTS 


1840. Si 


Sy 


CONTENTS. 


LETTER I. 


Pernicious effects of party spirit in the Chureh, othe : 


LETTER II. 


Difference between truth and error always important, . ‘ 


- LETTER III. 


The influence of prejudice—answer to the question what are 
the Decrees of God? 3 : ; A : 6 ° é 


LETTER IV. 


God never acts without design—Providence, what--extends to 


the preservation of life—and to all inanimate matter, . 
LETTER V. 

Death, with all its causes, under the government of provi- 

dence—the care of God extends to the whole universe, . 
LETTER VI. 

The divine purpose neither suspends, nor violates the free 

agency of man, . . : . : . ° : 3 


LETTER VII. 
The divine purpose perfectly consistent with the free agency 
ofman, . : . . ° . . . ‘ . . 
LETTER VIII. 


A method of ascertaining the extent of Divine Providence— 
Great events necessarily include all the less ones, of which 
they aremadeup, . ° ° . . . 


LETTER IX, 


Events, similar to those contained in the prophecies and pro- 
mises of God, are all included in his purpose, : 


18 


30 


36 


50 


77 


87 


100 


4 CONTENTS. 


LETTER X. 


The purposes of God not inconsistent with the moralagency of 
man, . : 2 = . c . A - a bate “ 


LETTER XI. 


This consistency incomprehensible to us—but so are many 
other things which yet we believe, . - . . : . 


LETTER XI. 


Moral Government—Salvation by Grace, . A . . . 


LETTER XIIit. 


The favours of God, bestowed according to his own design. 
Purpose, decree, intention, foreordination, &e. . = . 


LETTER XIV. 


The number to be saved depends entirely on the will of God, 


LETTER XV. 


The means of salvation suited to each individual, embraced in 
the divine purpose, : ° . : . . : F 


LETTER XVI. 
The providence of God subservient to the designs of merey— 


Great events made up of smaller—Our duty and interest to 
meditate on all his works, 4 & ‘ : i ’ é 


LETTER XVII. 


Man is a Predestinarian—the Commander of an army—the 
Architect—the Farmer—elect, foreordain, &e. . . . 


LETTER XVIII. 


The final Perseverance of Christians, i : . . 


LETTER XIX. 


Same subject continued, . : . . : : . 


LETTER XxX, 


‘This doctrine gives such views of the character of God as are 
ealenlated to excite devotion,—Conclusion, . ; q : 


Page 


126 


139 


150 


166 


179 


192 


213 


227 


240 


257 


Oe 


PREFACE. 


AuTuouGH the subject, introduced to the at- 
tention of the reader in these Letters, is ab- 
struse and difficult, it is here treated in a 
very intelligible and familiar manner. The 
chief excellency of these Letters is, that they 
present the subject of “ divine decrees,”’ with- 
out that forbidding aspect, which it is apt to 
assume in the view of many persons. One 
thing the reader may be assured of, that whe- 
ther he should coincide in opinion with the 
author or not, he will find nothing in the 
volume calculated to wound the most delicate 
feelings. A spirit of meekness and kindness, 
eminently characteristic of the writer, per- 


ve 


vades the whole. 


6 PREFACE. 


The first letter describes and exposes the 
evils of party spirit; the second, shows the 
importance of truth; so that, while on the one 
hand, we are warned against sectarian bigotry; 
on the other, we are guarded against indiffe- 


rence to truth, and spurious liberality. 


The doctrine explained and defended, is 
undoubtedly scriptural; and we should all, 
without prejudice, cordially embrace it; and 
where we meet with points which we cannot 
comprehend, we should bow with humble sub- 
mission to the dictates of heaven; sensible that 
our understandings are feeble, and our know- 


ledge small. 


At the close of the volume, there are two 
Letters, replete with solid argument and inge- 
nious illustration, on “ the perseverance of the 
saints.”? It will be here seen, that the repre- 
sentations commonly given of this comfortable 
doctrine, by its enemies, are exceedingly dis- 


torted, and altogether unjust. When rightly 


PREFACE. Fi 


understood it is the very thing which the 
Christian needs not only to comfort his heart, 
but to encourage his efforts. It ought surely 
to be a pleasing thought that no member of 
Christ’s mystical body shall be broken off; no 
sheep of his flock be finally lost; for, “we are 
kept by the power of God through faith unto 


salvation.’ 
A. ALEXANDER. 


Princeton, N. J. 


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LETTERS 


ON 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 


LETTER I. 


PERNICIOUS EFFECTS OF PARTY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH. 


Dear Str—Your letter has been received, in 
which you request my opinion on various re- 
ligious topics, for the purpose of aiding you in 
forming a correct decision, respecting that de- 
nomination of Christians with which it would 
be most expedient to connect yourself. I will 
endeavour to appreciate, but not abuse, the 
opinion you are pleased to express respecting 
my candour and my ability for the perform- 
ance of such a task. I feel encouraged in this 
undertaking by the serious intention you ex- 
press of connecting yourself with that deno- 
mination, which, after due deliberation and 
prayer, shall appear to you most conformable 
to the sacred Scripture, in its doctrines and 


2 


lad 


10 LETTERS ON 


form of government. When a person is al- 
ready determined, it is absurd to ask, and vain 
{o give advice. 

It is my duty, and my pleasure, to explain 
publicly, and from house to house, that sys- 
tem of doctrines held by the Church to which 
I belong. If it pleases God to render these 
instructions effectual in awakening the care- 
less; in directing the serious inquirer; or in 
comforting the believer, to his name be the 
praise. But I sincerely pray, that God, in 
his mercy, may preserve me from that party 
spirit, which would lead me to view it as a 
primary object to make prosely tes. 

Indeed, the man who cherishes party spirit 
is worthy of compassion, if suffering can ren- 
der him such: for he must feel no ordinary 
degree of torture, on whose vitals such a vul- 
ture is continually preying. When this spirit 
takes full possession of the heart, like the 
jaundiced eye, it will pervert, distort, or mis- 
represent every object presented to the mind. 
The importance of every measure will be cal- 
culated according to its tendency to answer 
this paramount purpose of adding names to 
the catalogue of his party. Every feeling of 
the soul must bow to this sectarian spirit. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 1] 


Provided the end can be accomplished, there 
is reason to fear but few scruples will be felt 
respecting the means. It will be his policy, 
indeed, not to give offence where there is the 
most distant prospect of success. He will 
study the disposition of those upon whom he 
means to try his art. If you intimate that re- 
ligion is something more than mere formality, 
then he will be the zealous advocate of vital 
piety. If you express your opinion in favour 
of what some call rational religion, and that it 
is not necessary to be precise; then he will in- 
sinuate, that there is great danger of enthu- 
siasm; and meet your wishes by alleging, in a 
sense accommodated to your views, that the 
commandments of God are not grievous. If 
you discover a disposition to reason on the 
subject, then he will enter into grave discus- 
sions to prove that his own is the best, if not 
the only true church. If he should perceive 
in your mind any latent prejudice, this he 
will endeavour to rouse into action. If your 
ancestors have been attached to the church to 
which he would make you a proselyte, then, 
whether this attachment was right or wrong, 
you must imitate their example; you must 
worship the God of- your fathers. But if, 


12 LETTERS ON 


unfortunately, your ancestors have belong- 
ed to another denomination; then, he will 
insist, that every man, in these things, has a 
right to choose for himself. Does any mem- 
ber of another church differ with you in opin- 
ion, on subjects which have no connexion 
with religion; he will endeavour to shape this 
difference into a reason why you should not 
belong to the same church. If you object to 
any doctrine which he professes to hold, he 
will, if possible, explain this doctrine in such 
a manner as to suit your views. If direct 
attempts would awaken your suspicion, and 
thus disappoint his design, he will then have 
recourse to distant hints and sly insinuations: 
and, if these should not escape your suspicion, 
then the subject will be dismissed; he will 
become your intimate friend, and thus watch 
the first opportunity for renewing the attack. 
If he should be a preacher of the Gospel, 
which is too often the case, he will mingle, 
perhaps, with the pure doctrines of the Bible, 
the peculiarities of his sect, so frequently, and 
with such emphasis, that an entire stranger 
would soon perceive to what denomination he 
belonged. Thus, in a sense peculiar to him- 
self, and very different from that of the apos- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 13 


tle Paul, he would become all things to all 
men, that he might, by all means, gain some. 
No difficulties are too great to be encountered; 
no disappointments are permitted to discour- 
age him. He will compass sea and land to 
gain one proselyte, though when gained, he 
feels, perhaps, too little concerned whether he 
be a child of God or a child of the devil. His 
chief gratification is derived from the number, 
not the piety of his flock. Such were the 
teachers who laboured to supplant the apostle 
Paul, in the church at Corinth; such have 
been a scourge and disgrace to the church in 
every age; and such are too numerous at the 
present day. 

How soon will every pious feeling of the 
soul languish under the blasting touch ef such 
a spirit? What baleful and tormenting pas- 
sions will it not generate in the heart? If 
others, through the divine blessing, should be 
made instrumental in turning sinners from 
darkness to light, this will awaken his jea- 
lousy and envy. He will secretly grieve at 
their success, though it is connected with the 
salvation of immortal souls. He will derive 
a secret pleasure from every circumstance 
which will diminish that success. He will 


14 LETTERS ON 


rejoice in those disappointments which excite 
their grief. Their success he considers his 
loss; of course, he will view them, not merely 
as rivals, but as enemies to his interest. He 
will give himself up the credulous dupe of 
every idle or malicious tale which may ope- 
rate to their disadvantage. Such tales, with 
perhaps expressions of regret, but with real 
satisfaction, he will circulate; careful that, by 
passing through his hands, they shall lose 
nothing of their tendency to injure the cha- 
racter of those whom he considers his oppo- 
nents. If the report respecting them be fa- 
vourable, then he becomes incredulous; at 
least, he does not choose to become a tale- 
bearer. With uneasiness he hears of the zeal- 
ous and honest efforts of others, in the vine- 
yard of the Lord; and feels the corrodings of 
a secret fear lest'a merciful God should bless 
those efforts to the conversion of careless sin- 
ners. This fear will be in proportion to the 
probability or certainty that the new converts 
will not range under his banner, but connect 
themselves with another church. Although 
under the pastoral care of other ministers, they 
may give sufficient evidence of vital piety, yet 
this does not remove his uneasiness; him they 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 15 


do not follow; the shibboleth of his party, 
they do not use. To counteract these efforts, 
and prevent these effects, he will also manifest 
great zeal; but it will be, to use the language 
of the apostle James, the bitter zeal of party 
spirit. He will preack Christ, even of envy, 
strife, and contention; not sincerely, Lut for 
the affliction of others. It is possible, that 
under the torment of this jealousy and envy, 
he may cherish the wish that sinners should 
remain ignorant, under sentence of condem- 
nation, and finally perish, rather than be in- 
structed, and brought to repentance through 
the instrumentality of others. This may ap- 
pear a heavy charge; and so, indeed, it is. 
But is it therefore groundless? If he is grieved 
that the labours of others should be crowned 
with success, will he not, very naturally, de- 
sire the cause of that grief to be removed? 

He will not dare to avow these desires and 
intentions: much ingenuity may be employed 
to conceal them. You may hear from him, on 
suitable occasions, very plausible professions 
of liberality, and of the purity of his motives. 
But the general tenor of his conduct will dis- 
close the secrets of his heart; will declare, to 
the world, what are his real intentions and 


16 LETTERS ON 


desires. Mark his conduct, and listen to his 
language in private. How frequently will 
those, whom he expects to enlist in his party, 
receive his attention; while others, who en- 
courage no such expectation, will be much 
neglected. While those who are known to be 
fixed in their opinions, on these subjects, will 
receive nothing but the compliment of cold 
formality; with what inviting and caressing 
smiles will he greet others, of whom he hopes 
better things? 

You will readily perceive how miserable 
must be the bosom where such a spirit resides. 
Like the troubled sea, it cannot rest. Its 
peace will be corroded by the incessant gnaw- 
ings of jealousy, of envy, and of other passions 
of a similar kind. How different is this from 
that charity which envieth not; because it 
thinketh no evil; from that brotherly love, by 
which we should be knit together. How 
unlike is such a heart to that compassionate 
and merciful Saviour, who prayed, and even 
died for his enemies? How unlike to the 
apostle Paul, who rejoiced that Christ was 
preached, though with a design to increase his 
afflictions? How happy, compared with such 
a mind, is the galley-slave, whose hasom is. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 17 


undisturbed by such a legion of passions. If 
you could cherish the feeling of revenge; if it 
were lawful for you to wish evil on your bit- 
terest enemy; your wishes would be gratified 
by seeing him under the influence of party 
spirit. Often has the church of Christ been 
disgraced and afflicted by this spirit of intol- 
erant bigotry and misguided zeal. Its fury 
has driven from the altars of God thousands of 
worshippers; its toil has prepared the dun- 
geons of the inquisition; its heat has kindled 
the flames of persecution. And it is still the 
same. It may exist in different degrees, and 
under different circumstances; but in all its 
degrees, and under all circumstances, its nature 
is still the same. He who is now secretly 
grieved because others, not of his party, preach 
the gospel with success, would silence them, if 
he could; and if no threatenings, no fines, no 
penalties would answer this purpose, under a 
sufficient degree of this party zeal, he would 
lead them to the stake. But, thanks to a gra- 
cious Providence, in this happy country it 
wields no such power. Here, it can shut no 
churches, disperse no worshippers, silence no 
ministers, kindle no flames. For this reason 
it is the more tormenting to the heart in which 


me he SS 


18 LETTERS ON 


it lives. When anger can burst on its object 
some relief is gained; but when restrained, it 
spends its force on him who feels it. If this 
spirit could vent itself on others, this would 
afford some relief to its unhappy possessor; 
but the laws of our country, and the influence 
of public opinion, deny him this relief—and 
long may this happy state of things remain. 


LETTER II. 


DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUTH AND ERROR ALWAYS 
IMPORTANT. 
Tue preceding remarks do not imply that 
there is no difference between truth and error; 
or that error is not always pernicious, and 
truth always useful. Nor do they imply that 
one system of doctrines is not better calcu- 
lated to excite devout affections in the heart, 
or that one form of church government does 
not furnish happier inducements to a religious 
life, than another. Because we should guard 
against the influence of party spirit, that is no 
reason why we should remain the victims of 
error and delusion; or why we should nof, 
with patience and diligence, inquire after truth. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 19 


Ignorance and error are the most prolific 
sources of intolerant bigotry. The history of 
the church will prove, if I mistake not, that 
in proportion to the general diffusion of reli- 
gious knowledge, less of this spirit is per- 
ceived, and when the knowledge of the Lord 
shall cover the earth, as the waters do the 
sea, this spirit shall be driven from the king- 
dom of Christ: it shall not hurt, or destroy, 
in all the holy mountain. This conside- 
ration furnishes additional inducements for 
inquiring after truth. If we would escape the 
mortal fangs of this serpent, of this destroyer 
of Christian peace, let us as much as possible 
he filled with all knowledge; \et us know 
the truth, and the truth will make us free. 
This inquiry should be pursued with an ear- 
nest desire for instruction, with humility, with 
prayer, and with a firm purpose of embrac- 
ing the truth when discovered: this firmness 
should be tempered with meekness, forbear- 
ance and charity. 

fam very far from admitting, that it is a 
matter of indifference, what system of religi- 
ous doctrines we receive. It is impossible 
that opposite doctrines can both be true; and 
equally impossible that error should answer 


20 LETTERS ON 


the purpose, or produce the effects of truth. 
Error may sometimes mingle, and be received 
with truth; but still it is error; and still it is 
pernicious. In proportion to its degree, it 
will retard the progress of the Christian, and 
mar the beauty of the divine image on his 
heart. Truth may be blended with error; but 
still it is truth; and still it is useful. The dis- 
proportion may be so great; error may so far 
exceed truth, and may relate to such funda- 
mental points, as to prevent altogether the 
existence of vital piety. The Holy Spirit is 
a spirit of truth: He never has made, and 
never will make error and falsehood instru- 
mental in regenerating and purifying the 
heart. Truth alone is honoured with this 
instrumentality. 

The human countenance is composed of a 
certain number of features. If these features 
are regular, and in just proportion, animated 
with intelligence, beaming with generosity, 
mildness and love, we call it an interesting 
and beautiful countenance; we are charmed 
with its attraction, and prepossessed, at first 
sight, in its favour. In another, we recognise 
all the features; but without that regularity 
and due proportion which would permit us to 


—_—- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. PAI 


eall it beautiful; and without that sweetness 
which awakens our complacency. In another, 
we discover so little of these properties, that 
we pronounce it the reverse of beautiful and 
amiable. In some instances a part of the fea- 
tures may be handsome, and others the reverse; 
in others, some of the features may be entirely 
wanting, still we call it a human countenance. 
It is possible to conceive of such an assemblage 
of parts, though called by the same name by 
which the human features are, yet so dispro- 
portionate, and distorted, as to be frightful; 
we deny it the character of human; if attached 
to a human body, we call it a monster; if to 
a different body, we call it a brute. 

In the moral character of man, a similar va- 
riety prevails; some are beautiful with, at least, 
a distant resemblance of their Saviour; others 
are deformed with sin. The features of the 
divine image are drawn on the heart through 
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of 
the truth. The word of God is truth. The 
doctrines of the Bible possess an intrinsic fit- 
ness to impress the mind. Each of them, so 
far as it is understood and _ believed, will, 
through the spirit of grace, produce its appro- 
priate effect, awaken its correspondent affec- 


22 LETTERS ON 


tion in the soul. These doctrines, taken col- 
lectively, constitute that form, or mould, 
(Rom. vi. 17.) into which the heart 1s deliver- 
ed, by the Great Artificer, that it may receive, 
and retain all the features and lineaments of 
his own image. That this form of sound, or 
health-giving* (2 Tim. i. 13.) words may 
have this effect, we must hold it fast, must 
cling to it, by faith and love, which is in 
Christ Jesus. In proportion to the accuracy 
and extent of our knowledge, and the sinceri- 
ty of our faith in these doctrines, will be the 
beauty and perfection of the divine image; we 
shall possess all those affections and disposi- 
tions which belong to the character of Christ; 
of his fulness we shall receive, and grace 
for grace. Mf that system of doctrines, which 
we profess to hold, is but imperfectly under- 
stood, then its effects can be but faintly traced 
on the mind. If it be only some of these doc- 
trines with which we are acquainted, or can 
be said to know, while of others we are entire- 
ly ignorant, then correspondent deficiencies 
will remain in the character—The mould is 
complete, but the metal does not come in con- 


* See M‘Knight. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 93 


tact with it. If the system which we receive 
be mixed with error, then the character will 
exhibit, not merely deficiencies, but deformi- 
ties, answering to, and produced by these 
errors; for the metal will bear the impression 
of the mould into which it is cast. Error, 
when believed, will as certainly as truth, pro- 
duce its effect. While Christians of all denom- 
inations, in proportion as they receive the 
sincere mitk of the word, manifest their like- 
ness to the Saviour, and are growing in a 
meetness for the inheritance of the saints in 
light; the man, who has never been born again, 
who receives not the Lord Jesus Christ 
by faith, whose heart has never melted with 
evangelical repentance, is destitute of every 
feature of the divine image. He is led astray 
by an evil heart of unbelief; and is complete- 
ly under the government of falsehood. No 
saving truth mingles with that system of error, 
which is habitually strengthening its grasp, 
and deepening its impression on his soul. 
While a divine Agent is imparting his own 
likeness to the character of Christians, a very 
different agent, wielding different instruments, 
is actively employed in imparting his likeness 
to the charaeter of the sinner. His affections 


94 LETTERS ON 


are all fixed on improper objects, or, in an 
improper degree, on right objects; his dispo- 
sitions all tend the wrong way. All the fea- 
tures of his moral character are so completely 
distorted, and so disproportionate, as to exhi- 
bit nothing but a frightful and hideous picture 
of deformity: He isa monster in the moral 
world. 

Such is our nature, that the objects, with 
which the heart is habitually conversant, and 
most intimately acquainted, will, as certainly 
form its character and habits of feeling, as the 
company, which we keep, will form our man- 
ners. By familiar and habitual intercourse 
with one grade in society, our manners will 
acquire all that ease and gracefulness which 
will fit us for the politest circles. In another 
grade they will acquire nothing but simplicity ; 
which, although not offensive nor disagreeable, 
yet does not include that artificial polish, 
which would secure us from embarrassment, if 
introduced into the higher classes, where 
greater refinement characterises the manners. 
From a still lower grade in society, our man- 
ners will acquire a rudeness and vulgarity, un- 
adorned with that simplicity which would ex- 
empt such deportment from censure. While 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 2Q5 


surrounded with those of our own grade, whose 
manners resemble our own, we feel perfectly 
at ease; of course, most happy. But if acci- 
dent or business should place us in the midst 
of those whose manners are polished and re- 
fined, their politeness and gracefulness would 
be distressing to us: the contrast would force 
upon us a sense of our own deficiencies; and 
the moment of escape from such society to 
that of our own level, would be anticipated 
with real satisfaction. And yet, if our hearts 
are not as destitute of sensibility, as our 
manners are of refinement, we shall feel and 
acknowledge the propriety of accommodating 
ourselves to the company present. Hence 
attempts are often made to assume a style of 
manners with which we are not familiar. 
Such attempts are generally fruitless; they 
discover our embarrassment, and set our awk- 
wardness in a more striking point of view. 
The preceding remarks may illustrate the 
effects to be expected from the different sy s- 
tems of doctrine, now received in the Chris- 
tian world. These systems represent our own 
character, and the character of God, with 
very considerable shades of difference. This 
difference will operate in forming, if I may 
3 


26 LETTERS ON 


speak so, the manners of the heart; that is, its 
affections, dispositions, tempers and feelings. 
Some of these systems diminish very much 
the distance between us and our Maker. By 
representing our character as less depraved 
than it really is; our guilt as less atrocious, 
and dangerous, than truth requires: they pro- 
portion the displeasure of God towards us, by 
that degree of depravity and guilt, with which 
we are chargeable; our reconciliation, of 
course, can be the more easily effected; the 
price of our pardon, if any such he required, 
need be the less valuable and precious. 

In the ordinances of the gospel, we are em- 
phatically said to draw near to God. In one 
sense we are always, independently of our 
own intentions, in his presence; he is not far 
from every one of us; for in him we live, and 
move, and have our being. But in these 
ordinances, we draw near to him, in a religi- 
ous sense, and under the most important rela- 
tion of worshippers, for the express purpose 
of offering to him the devout affections of our 
hearts. These affections cannot be produced 
by any mechanical operation; they must be 
excited, and will be graduated by the views 
we entertain of ourselves, and of the object 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. aid 


of our worship. Our confessions of sin will 
never exceed the degree of guilt, with which 
we suppose ourselves to be chargeable; our 
gratitude will correspond with our estimation 
of the blessings we receive; our love will 
glow with no greater warmth than suits our 
views of the divine benevolence; our sorrow 
for sin cannot, in the nature of things, exceed 
our belief of its baseness and hatefulness; our 
fear of sin, and our watchfulness to guard 
against it, will be in proportion to our views 
of the danger to which it exposes us. In pro- 
portion as those doctrines which we believe, 
diminish the guilt of sin, the Saviour will be 
the less precious to us; because we shall be 
the less indebted to him, we shall have the less 
need of his assistance, he will have the less to 
do, and to suffer for us; we shall feel the less 
thankful to him. Heaven, which is a state of 
complete deliverance from sin, will be the less 
desirable to us; and hell, which is a state of 
punishment for sin, will be the less dreaded; 
our exertions to secure the one, and escape the 
other, will be the less frequent and vigorous. 
Now these are the affections indispensably 
necessary in all who worship God, in spirit 
and in truth; and these are the affections 


28 LETTERS ON 


“ 


which operate as motives of action; which 
exercise a commanding influence over our 
daily deportment. Without them, we may 
go through all the forms of worship; but it 
will be a body, without the spirit; the form 
without the power of godliness. Without 
them our conduct may be so regular as to 
escape the censure of man; but, in the sight 
of God, it will be considered as deficient, and 
even condemned as criminal, just so far as it 
flows from any other principle than supreme 
and sincere love to his character. 

It cannot, therefore, be a matter of indif- 
ference, what system of doctrines we believe. 
These doctrines have a connexion with our 
everlasting happiness, too intimate and too ne- 
cessary, to admit the supposition. They are 
the means, used by the Spirit, in exciting our 
affections, in forming our moral character, and 
in regulating our life. It cannot be doubted 
that some of these systems, now held by the 
disciples of Christ, are better calculated than 
others to produce these effects; of course, it is 
the duty of every man, as opportunity permits, 
to investigate this subject; to compare these 
systems with the word of God, and firmly to 
believe that one, which he finds to be nearest 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 29 


the truth. This is the duty, and this the 
manner of performing it, enjoined by an in- 
spired apostle, prove all things, hold fast 
that which is good. Every man is required 
to be useful in judicious and persevering efforts 
to promote the cause of vital piety; but the 
zeal with which he employs the means within 
his power, will be in proportion to the sincer- 
ity and fervour of his religious affections; these 
again, have an intimate and necessary con- 
nexion with the doctrines which he believes. 
One system of doctrine is better calculated to 
excite these affections, to prompt to these exer- 
tions than another, because nearer the truth. 
The man, who satisfies himself with the reflec- 
tion, that the system which he holds is, upon 
the whole, good, and in some degree useful, 
when by making the proper inquiry, he might 
discover that another is evidently better, pos- 
sessing a still greater tendency to be useful, is 
certainly inexcusable, and of course, culpable, 
if he fails to make that inquiry. 

I, therefore, cordially approve of your in- 
tention of examining for yourself, by the only 
infallible standard—the word of God, those 
different, and often conflicting systems, now 
abroad in the world. If you prosecute this 


30 LETTERS ON 


inquiry with meekness and humility, and espe- 
cially with prayer for the divine blessing, I 
have no doubt, the Holy Spirit will guide you 
into the knowledge and belief of all truth, as it 
is in Jesus Christ. I will cheerfully give you 
my sentiments on the two important doctrines, 
mentioned in your request—the divine de- 
erees, and the perseverance of the saints. 


LETTER III. 


THE INFLUENCE OF FREJUDICE—ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, 
WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF Gop ? 


No person can have been so long conversant 
with the world as you have been, without 
often observing the effects of prejudice. It 
implies the belief of a statement, or opinion, 
without examination; of course, without a 
knowledge of the evidence on which the truth 
of that opinion is founded. A judgment is 
formed, for which no good reason ean be 
given. In this way, either truth or error may, 
and often is, received. It is peculiarly unfor- 
tunate when its influence operates in favour of 
error; for it renders the mind almost, if not 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 3l 


quite inaccessible to truth. It is. a hopeless 
undertaking, to reason with men under its 
influence. You state a case to them, differ- 
ently from their opinion, and invite them to 
a fair and candid inquiry; but they have prre- 
judged the case; they have no doubts on the 
subject. They formed their opinion without 
deliberation, of course, without difficulty, and 
why should they doubt? Perfectly satisfied 
with their present views, troubled with no 
doubts respecting their correctness, they can 
see no reason for investigation. In the same 
manner, without inquiry, and without any 
doubt, they believe that all opinions, differing 
from their own, are unfounded and erroneous; 
they, of course, consider all examination as use- 
less and unnecessary. Your proposal, there- 
fore, to inquire, can only excite their passions; 
which either pervert, or repel, the force of 
your reasonings; and, in fact, disqualify their 
minds for any thing like useful investigation. 
Their opposition to your statements, is that of 
feeling, and not of the understanding. They 
consider it as necessary to reject and oppose 
error, as to hold and defend the truth. Such 
men are apt to make a convenience of certain 
vague and general terms, which they consider 


we LETTERS ON 


rather as the signals of a party, than as the 
signs of definite ideas. If the term is used by 
the party to which they belong, without con- 
veying one distinct perception to the mind, it 
awakens all the feelings of approbation; and 
they are determined to defend it. But if the 
term is generally used by those whom they 
consider their opponents, then it awakens all 
the feelings of disapprobation and hostility; 
the mind almost instinctively assumes the atti- 
tude of resistance; they are determined to 
oppose it. Their passions are excited, but 
their understanding is not enlightened. 

These remarks, as you have no doubt ob- 
served, have been often verified, during the 
prevalence among us of party spirit on the 
subject of politics. But the effects of preju- 
dice appear on no subject more frequently 
than on that of religion; and especially re- 
specting the divine decrees. There are mul- 
titudes in whose minds the very term, decree, 
is sufficient to excite the liveliest feelings of 
dislike and opposition. 

I am to offer you my sentiments on the sub- 
ject of the divine decrees. May God, in mer- 
cy, grant that spirit of meekness, humility, 
and wisdom, without which the inquiry will 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 33 


be prosecuted to no advantage! I am not un- 
dertaking to clear this doctrine of all diffi- 
culties; or to render it, in all its bearings and 
connexions, comprehensible to your mind. 
What I chiefly intend is to furnish you with 
that mode of reasoning, and with that train of 
refiection, which has led my own mind to 
believe in this doctrine, as taught in the word 
of God. 

About the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, an assembly of Divines, convened at 
Westminster, in England; composed two cate- 
chisms, the one called the larger, and the 
other, the shorter catechism; both of which 
are received by the Presbyterian Church, as 
excellent compends of Christian doctrine. A 
question in the shorter catechism brings the 
subject, now under consideration, fully and 
distinctly to view: What are the decrees of 
God? Nor do I know of any thing, within 
the same compass, more to the point or more 
satisfactory, than the answer to this question: 
The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, 
according to the counsel of his own will, 
whereby, for his own glory, he hath fore- 
ordained whatsoever comes to pass. 

In this answer, the decrees of God and his 

4 


34 LETTERS ON 


purpose, are considered the same: the one is 
explained by the other, and both are again ex- 
pressed in the term, fore-ordained. To de- 
cree, to purpose, to fore-ordain, to predestinate, 
to predetermine, when used to express the in- 
tentions, designs, and plans of God, are so 
nearly, if not altogether the same in their 
meaning, that they will be considered as such, 
and will be used as synonymous terms. The 
words, decree, purpose, fore-ordination, &c., 
will be considered and used also as meaning 
the same thing. Those events, or actions, to 
which the divine purpose relates, may be ex- 
pressed, with equal propriety, either by the 
term decreed, or purposed, or fore-ordained, 
or predestinated, or designed, or predeter- 
mined. These purposes of the Almighty are 
neither capricious nor arbitrary: they are not 
_ capricious; because they are formed, or more 
properly, they exist in the divine mind, ac- 
cording to a perfect rule, which is his own 
will. From this they derive both stability 
and unity. They are not arbitrary; since he 
does not ordain an event merely because he 
has power to accomplish it; they are accord- 
ing to the counse/ of his own will. Ofall the 

works of God, it is said, in wisdom hast thou 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 35 


made them all. All things, and all events 
are embraced in these decrees; for his king- 
dom ruleth over all; and by him all things 
do consist, or hang together. All these de- 
terminations have respect to his own glory, as 
their chief and ultimate end; and will all ter- 
minate in that glory—the highest and best 
end which ean be proposed.y-According to 
the conceptions of our finite capacities, these 
purposes must exist in the divine mind before 
the events to which they relate are brought to 
pass. If they exist one day, or one hour be- 
fore, as it respects God himself, to whom one 
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day, it is precisely the same as if 
they existed from all eternity. These pur- 
poses are, therefore, eternal. Now, each part 
of this answer appears to be worthy of all ac- 
ceptation; because the whole of it is founded 
on Scripture, and agrees perfectly with all we 
know of the character of God, and of the go- 
vernment which he exercises over the world. 
I, therefore, receive it, not only because it is 
true, but also because it is useful and comfort- 
able. 

If, however, you feel any difficulty in re- 
ceiving, as true, the above statements, you 


36 LETTERS ON 


will admit the truth of the two following pro- 
positions, viz.: That the government of the 
universe is in the hands of Jehovah: or that 
his kingdom ruleth over all; and that, by 
grace ye are saved. If you receive these two 
propositions, then, in my opinion, you are a 
genuine Calvinist; for they embrace the very 
essence of that system. The former of these 
may be understood as including the works of 
creation and providence; the latter as refer- 
ring to the work of redemption. But all who 
profess to believe the Bible, believe these pro- 
positions, for they are parts of that volume; 
and yet all are not Calvinists. Our only dif- 
ference, therefore, is respecting the meaning 
of these, and similar passages of Scripture. 
The first of these will be considered in my 
next letter. 


LETTER IV. 


GOD NEVER ACTS WITHOUT DESIGN—PROVIDENCE, WHAT— 
EXTENDS TO THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE—AND TO ALL INAN- 
IMATE MATTER. 


In your evening walk you tread on a worm, 
and crush it to death; presently you observe a 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 37 


venomous serpent near your path, which you 
also kill. In the first case, the effect, as it 
respected yourself, was accidental; that is, it 
happened without your intention; you had no 
design to injure the worm. But in the latter, 
the effect, or event, was according to your 
intention; your killing the serpent was in con- 
sequence of a design, previously and delibe- 
rately formed, in your mind. And yet, in 
both cases you were the cause of death. Ina_ 
thousand instances, the exertions of men pro- 
duce effects, not only without design, but 
contrary to their deliberate intentions. But 
nothing like this can possibly happen with God. 
It would be the height of absurdity, and man- 
ifest the greatest ignorance of his character to 
suppose, that his power was exerted in blind 
efforts, and was producing effects, which he 
had not previously designed. Every effect 
which his power produces, is according to the 
predetermination of his own wisdom. 

It is probable, if not certain, that the whole 
system to which this earth belongs was created 
at the same time. The sun, which is the 
common centre, and the moon are expressly 
mentioned. The supposition is very much 
strengthened by the Mosaic account, in whieh, 


38 LETTERS ON 


besides mentioning the sun and moon, it is 
distinctly stated he made the stars also ; that 
is, at the same time. | Not the fixed stars; but 
those planets, commonly called stars, which 
are, known to revolve round the sun, with this 
earth. In the beginning, God created the 
heavens and the earth; not by accident, but 
from design. In that plan, which guided his 
creative power, was embraced all the parts of 
these heavens, and this earth. The number of 
planets, belonging to the system; their dis- 
tance from each other; their revolution; their 
figure and dimensions; were all decreed with 
absolute certainty. If then this purpose ex- 
isted in the divine mind previously to creation, 
there is no alternative, but to believe that it is 
an eternal purpose. ‘l’o suppose any thing else, 
involves an absurdity too great to impute to 
any man. 

No objection, however, will be made, I 
presume, to the creation of the world, accord- 
ing to an eternal purpose of God, but chiefly 
to his governing the world, in the same man- 
ner; and yet this, if I mistake not, is included 
in the preposition, which you will readily ad- 
mit, that the government of the universe is in 
the hands of Jehovah, or that his kingdom 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 39 


ruleth over all. This government and _ his 
providence are the same. Every effect, and 
every event, to which his providence extends, 
are so many particulars included in his goy- 
ernment. Now, consider for a moment, what 
a vast variety of events are in Scripture most 
explicitly ascribed to God; and which, of 
course, are under the control of his guardian 
care, But in what sense can an event be + 
ascribed to God, unless it is brought to pass by 

his agency? It is true, divine providence is 
carried on by the instrumentality of second 
causes: but this fact cannot alter the case. 
These second causes, whether they be rational 
or irrational creatures, with or without life, are 
completely dependent on the Almighty, and 
could neither exist nor act without his power- 
ful and constant support. Their preservation, 
and the employment of their instrumentality, 
are important parts in the plan of his provi- 
dence. Hence the propriety of using the term 
ProvipENcE, which means foresight, or care 
respecting future events, so as to secure their 
occurrence at a particular time, and under par- 
ticular circumstances. Thus when one effect 
is produced, care is taken that it may answer 
the purpose of a second cause, or be instru- 


AO LETTERS ON 


mental in producing a second effect, and this 
again a third, &c. throughout a series of causes 
and effects, which may terminate only with 
the end of the world. In producing the first 
effect, provision was made for the second, in 
the second, for the third, &c. That effect, 
which is here considered the first, was itself 
produced by another which preceded it, and 
this also by another; and thus the unbroken 
chain may be traced up, through all the inter- 
mediate links, to the First Cause. In the first 
effect, produced immediately by the hand of 
God, provision was made for all that were to 
flow from it, down to the last. Thus, the 
first and the last event, of any given series, are 
connected together; the last is dependent on 
the first, as the first is on God. A second 
cause necessarily implies a first, on which the 
whole connexion, in all its parts, and in every 
stage of its progress, is dependent. Every 
intervening effect was, from the beginning, as 
distinctly in his view, and as certainly em- 
braced in his purpose, as the first. One view, 
and one purpose, pervades the whole. The 
- Providence of God is, therefore, his unerring 
and perfect foresight, his wise and guardian 
care, extending through a yast concatenation 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. . ge 


of causes and effects, from the first to the last 
moment of time—a_successive flow of events, 
which none can arrest, but He who first set it 
in motion. 

For the sake of illustration, let some particu- 
lar case be selected. The preservation of human 
life is known to depend on the concurrence of 
a great variety of means, or second causes; 
man’s own exertion and prudence, food, water, 
air, clothing, medicine, &c., and yet, in Scrip- 
ture, this preservation is ascribed in the most 
explicit and unequivocal language to God. “O, 
thou preserver of men; O Lord thou presery- 
est man and beast; in him we live, and move, 
and have our being.”’ Job vii. 20; Ps. xxxvi. 
6; Acts xvii. 28. Creation is not ascribed to 
God in language more intelligible and more 
explicit than this. The life of man, however, is 
preserved, generally, not by miracle, but by 
providence; that is, by the use of means, pos- 
sessing, in themselves, a fitness to answer the 
intended purpose. The preservation of human 
life necessarily implies the provision of all 
those means on which that life depends. 

The preservation of the apostle Paul’s life, 
as far as we can judge, at one time, depended 
on his nephew, who, accidentally, as we call 


42 - LETTERS ON 


it, but providentially, in the purposes of God, 
heard the bloody intentions of the Jews; of 
which he gave immediate information to the 
chief captain. (Acts xxiii. 16, et seq.) Had 
this captain been a Gallio, still the effect 
would have taken place. But he was not; 
provision was made in his character, and in 
the dispositions of his heart for acting prompt- 
ly on this information; and thus securing Paul 
from these murderous designs.. Had this 
young man been at a distance, he could not 
have heard this conversation; of course, could 
not have given the information. But He 
who had determined to prolong the life of 
the distinguished apostle, determined also to 
secure the presence of his nephew, at the 
proper place and at the proper moment. At 
another time, his life, and the life of the 
whole company, depended on the continuance 
of the sailors in the ship. “ Except these 
abide in the ship ye cannot be saved.” And 
yet he had been previously assured that his 
life should not be lost. The intention to pre- 
serve him, included the exertions of the sea- 
men, as the means of that preservation. 

The preservation of life often depends on 
circumstances too trivial to excite the least 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 43 


attention at the moment; yet such occurrences 
are sometimes the shield by which man is 
secure from death. _ While the Rev. Dr. Rod- 
gers, late of New York, lived at St. Georges’, 
in Maryland, one of his neighbours deter- 
mined to murder him. “ Accordingly the 
miserable wretch made every preparation for 
executing his nefarious purpose. He watched 
the motions of Mr. R. with a loaded musket, 
day after day, for a considerable time, and 
eagerly sought for a favourable opportunity 
to destroy his life. He waylaid him when he 
rode abroad. He hovered about his door, at 
intervals, by day and night. But something 
always occurred to carry the object of his pur- 
suit in a different direction from that which 
was expected, and thus to avert the intended 
mischief.””* The Doctor knew nothing of 
these attempts; and, therefore, could have no 
design to avoid the danger. But the great 
Head of the church intended to employ him 
still longer in his vineyard; and, therefore, at 
the proper moment, and in due proportion, all 
the motives and all the circumstances neces- 
sary to his preservation, were ready and 
brought into operation. A very slight change 


* Miller’s Life of Rodgers, page 111. 


44. LETTERS ON 


in these occurrences might have carried him 
on to instant death. 

This wise and gracious care of the Almighty 
Father extends to all the human family, every 
individual of which, is equally, and at all times 
dependent on him. Whatever God performs 
in the course of his providence, we ought to 
believe that from the beginning it was his 
intention to do. If that intention preceded 
the event, as it must have done, then we can- 
not avoid the conviction that, in the divine 
mind, it existed from all eternity. In this 
eternal purpose is included the preservation of 
every human being; and, of course, all the 
means necessary for the support of life. If 
the means should fail, life also must fail, un- 
less it be preserved by miracle, which we are 
not to expect. If, in the divine purpose, the 
end is rendered certain, so also are the means. 
No human being can long subsist without food. 
If God has determined to preserve, for a given 
time, the life of any particular man, he must. 
also have determined to provide that food 
without which he cannot live. Nor is this 
food produced by miracle; its production de- 
pends on other causes; on the fertility and 
cultivation of the soil; on the influence of the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 45 


sun, the rain, &c. If, then, he determined to 
provide the necessary food, he determined also 
to secure the operation of all those causes on 
which the production of that food depends. 
The causes which are instrumental in furnish- 
ing bread, are themselves the effects of other 
causes which preceded them, and these again 
of others, till we are led up to the great First 
Cause. Thus we are taught to pray to our 
Father in Heaven for our daily bread. But 
why pray to him for it? unless its provision 
depends on his wisdom and his care. The 
causes on which the provision of this bread 
depends, are also ascribed to him. “ And 
God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the 
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding 
fruit, after his kind.”? Gen. i. 11. “He 
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
unjust.”? Matt. v.45. If the preservation of 
our life requires bread, for this bread we are 
taught to pray, and thus to acknowledge it as 
one of his blessings. If this bread is produced 
by other means, these means are instruments 
in the hand of Omnipotence, employed for 
this special purpose. All second causes are 


46 LETTERS ON 


the servants of the Supreme Ruler, waiting on 
him in readiness to perform his will. 

In the same manner, all living creatures 
depend on God for their preservation. “O 
Lord,” said the Psalmist, ‘‘thou preservest, 
not only man, but beast also. These wait all 
upon thee, that thou mayest give them their 
meat in due season.”? Psal. civ. 27, 28.) All 
the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the 
fishes of the sea, together with every living 
thing, by whatever name it is called—all are 
sustained by the providential care of the great 
Creator. “God feedeth the ravens. Thou 
openest thy hand, they are filled with good; 
thou hidest thy face, they are troubled. Thou 
satisfiest the desire of every living thing.”’ 
Psal. cxiv. 16. Not one of them is forgotten 
before God. -If this language means any thing, 
it means that this whole department of ani- 
mated nature, from the greatest to the very 
least, is sustained in being by divine power, 
wisdom and goodness. Food is as necessary 
for the support of their life, as for the life of 
man. This food must be suited to their nature; 
and their natures are very different from each 
other. Some are carnivorous; some are gra- 
minivorous. That which is received by one, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 47 


is rejected by another. This food must not 
only be suited to their nature, but must be 
given in due season.’ The purpose of God, 
to preserve the life of all these myriads of 
living creatures, certainly implies his purpose 
of securing for them all the various kinds of 
food, from which the nourishment of life may 
be derived. It also renders certain the con- 
current instrumentality of all those means, or 
second causes, on which the provision of this 
food depends.. Here again, in attempting to 
trace the succession of causes and effects, we 
are carried up, and lost in the counsels of infi- 
nite wisdom, which must for ever exceed our 
limited comprehension. 

In Scripture, we are taught to believe that 
the providence of God extends to the whole 
vegetable kingdom; and indeed to every part 
of inanimate nature. The fruitful earth is 
still, and has been in every age, obedient to 
the mandate of Jehovah. “He causeth the 
grass to grow for the cattle, and the herb for 
the service of man; he hath planted the cedars 
of Lebanon.” He not only causes the grass 
and all kinds of herbage to grow; but he also 
clothes that grass, and this herbage. Neither 
their number, their shape, nor their colour, 


48 LETTERS ON 


are either uncertain or contingent, but deter- 
mined by the wise and eternal purposes of 
Him who causes them to spring from the 
earth. He gives the grass its form and its 
verdure; to his pencil, the lily, the rose, the 
pink, &c. are indebted for all their discrimina- 
tive tints, and their brilliancy of colour. If 
he plants the cedars of Lebanon, so, by fair 
and undeniable consequence, does he plant 
the trees of every other kind, over the whole 
earth. The oak, the pine, the willow, &c. are 
as much dependent on his care as the dign- 
aloes and the cedar. 

Inanimate matter, in all its combinations 
and forms, in all its movements and opera- 
tions, is completely subject to the controlling 
hand of Omnipotence. The wind bloweth 
where it listeth, as to any power in man, to 
direct its course, or stop its progress, but not 
without the command of God; for “ He bring- 
eth the wind out of his treasuries; it is his 
wind; he causeth it to blow.”? When Jonah 
fled from his duty, the Lord sent out a great 
wind into the sea after him, and he was soon 
brought to repentance. When it has answer- 
ed the purpose for which it is sent out, then 
“He stayeth his rough wind, and gathereth it 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 49 


in his fist. He scattereth the hoar frost like 
ashes. Fire and hail, snow and vapour,”’’ 
whether they sweep over the earth with deso- 
lating fury, or minister to the comfort and 
convenience of man, are only fulfilling his 
word. liven the resistless thunder-bolt, shiv- 
ering with equal ease the palaces of kings, and 
the trees of the forest, is launched and guided 
by his hand; for “ He directeth his lightnings 
to the ends of the earth.’ See him at one 
time measuring the waters in the hollow of 
his hand; at another, meteing out the heavens 
with a span; now, comprehending the dust of 
the earth in a measure; again, weighing the 
mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance; 
and who can suppress the devout exclamation: 
O, Lord! how manifold are thy works; how 
vast, how boundless the extent of thy provi- 
dence! Matter, it is true, is governed by 
what we usually call the laws of nature; but 
what are these laws, but the power, the wis- 
dom, and the goodness of God, producing, 
with regularity and certainty, all the diversi- 
fied phenomena which strike our attention? 


5O LETTERS ON 


LETTER V. 


DEATH, WITH ALL ITS CAUSES, UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF 
PROVIDENCE—THE CARE OF GOD EXTENDS TO THE WHOLE 
UNIVERSE. 


Iv the great Jehovah is continually employed 
in preserving the life of man, must not the ter- 
mination of that life be ascribed also to him? 
Have we the consolation of believing, that 
divine wisdom presides over all the changes 
which diversify our life, regulating the minu- 
test events connected with our safety, num- 
bering even the hairs of our head; but that, in 
the hour of death, we shall be cast off, and be 
altogether deserted by our merciful Father? 
Reason, and the word of God, unite in forbid- 
ding us to admit the gloomy conclusion; and 
in authorizing us to cherish the belief that the 
last hour, the last moment of life, is+as cer- 
tainly embraced in the designs of his provi- 
dence, as any of those hours or moments that 
are past. The divine purpose to preserve our 
life is not vague and indefinite as to time. 
We have abundant reason to believe that the 
length of our life, as well as its preservation, 
is determined by the wisdom of Him who 


ie 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. Al 


cannot err. He alone has the right, and he 
alone is competent to decide when it is most 
proper to withdraw from us his supporting 
hand. 

In Scripture, we find this event is ascribed 
to God. “I know,” said the pious and af- 
flicted Job, that “thou wilt bring me to death. 
The Lord killeth; he bringeth down to the 
grave.’ 1 Sam. ii. 6. “Is there not an ap- 
pointed time for man uponearth? Yes, verily, 
his days are determined, the number of his 
months is with thee; thou hast appointed his 
bounds, that he cannot pass.’? Job vii. 1, and 
SIV 5s 

If this event should for a moment be sup- 
posed to depend not on the will of God, but of 
man; that each individual should possess the 
power to prolong his life according te his own 
pleasure; this would also imply the power to 
command all those means by which life is sus- 
tained. If he cannot by his own power secure 
those means, neither can he preserve his life; 
for it cannot be preserved without them. He 
must have it in his power to provide food: 
for without it, he cannot long subsist. This 
requires an absolute control over all those 
causes on which the provision of food depends. 


5 LETTERS ON 


He must impart fertility to the earth, must 
command the sun to shine and the rain to fall; 
for without these the earth will not yield her 
increase. These causes are the effects of 
others which preceded them; and these again 
of others; and thus the connexion may be 
traced back hundreds of years, before any 
man now living was born. This supposition 
would require him to act hundreds or even 
thousands of years before he existed. No- 
thing, therefore, can be more absurd than to 
suppose man capable of performing all this; 
and yet if he cannot do all this and much 
more, neither can he prolong his own life; 
and if he cannot prolong his own life, neither 
can he determine, independently of the divine 
will, his own death. Life and death are in 
the hands of the same being; and that being 
must exercise the most absolute control over 
all those causes which contribute to the sup- 
port of life. That being can be none other 
than Jehovah. 

If it depended on our own choice, how few 
of us would ever leave this world? Even 
under accumulated evils, we generally cling to 
life with the most eager endearment. Topro- . 
duce in the human mind a desire to depart, is 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 53 


among the sublimest effects of genuine piety. 
The language of this desire, however, is, “all 
the days of my appointed time will I wait, till 
my change come;”’ for it is always connected 
with perfect submission to the will of God. 
Death itself is not only ascribed to the great 
Disposer of all events, but also all those causes 
which generally issue in the termination of 
life. Thousands of the human family are 
annually swept off by diseases of various 
kinds, all of which may be included in the 
term pestilence. This. is so frequently, and 
under such a variety of circumstances ascribed 
to God, that it is almost needless to mention 
particular passages. “I will smite them with 
the pestilence; he gave their life over to the 
pestilence; I have sent among you the pesti- 
lence.’? Numbers xiv. 12. Psalm Ixxvili. 50. 
Amos. iv. 10. This pestilence, walking in 
darkness, and wasting at noonday, is but the 
servant of the Almighty, and cannot move or 
affect the life of a single creature without his 
command. If, however, it should not be ad- 
mitted that the pestilence includes all diseases, 
still we find in Scripture that, collectively and 
singly, they are subject. to the regulations of 
divine power and wisdom. * The Lord will 


54 LETTERS ON 


make thy plague wonderful, and sore sickness, 
and of long continuance; also every sickness, 
and every plague, which is not written in the 
book of his law, them will the Lord bring 
upon thee, until thou be destroyed.’ Deut. 
xxvill. 60, 61. The truth here asserted is, 
that all kinds of diseases are sent by the Ruler 
of the world, and are subject to the guidance 
of his providence. Of this truth the Divine 
Redeemer furnished, while on earth, the most 
conclusive proof, by healing all manner of 
diseases, which he could not have done, if they 
were not obedient to his will. 

Disease itself is the effect of other causes, 
which are also ascribed to God. The cause 
of disease is often generated in the atmosphere. 
Noxious qualities exhaled from the earth, com- 
bine with the air which we breathe; and when 
thus impregnated, the wind has only to pass 
over us and we are gone. Shall we suppose 
that these exhalations rise by chance, and are 
not included in the divine purpose? Such, no 
doubt, is the opinion of some. The spirit of 
inspiration, however, has taught us otherwise, 
ascribing their rise te the same wisdom which 
presides over the rise and fall of empires. 
This vapour, eventually the cause of death, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 55 


does but fulfil his word. “He causeth the 
vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth.’’ 
Psal. exxxv. 7. If their ascent is regulated 
by his will, so are all their subsequent move- 
ments and effects. 

Thousands of mankind have been destroy- 
ed by famine; another of those means some- 
times used by the Most High in accomplish- 
ing his designs. “ Arise and go,” said Elisha 
to the woman, “for the Lord hath called for 
famine,’ which accordingly came. That sore 
and grievous famine which prevailed in Egypt, 
was established by the purpose of God, and 
came, because he called for it.: Gen. xli. 32. 
Psal. cv. 16. Famine is also produced by 
second causes, all of which are embraced in the 
divine plan. If it be occasioned by drought, 
it is He who “ stayeth the bottles: of heaven, 
and bindeth up the waters in his thick cloud.’’ 
If it be occasioned by storms, these, while 
desolating the fields, are only fulfilling his word, 
who has only to speak, and it is done. If it 
be the consequence of locusts or other devour- 
ing insects, he need only issue his proclama- 
tion, and “the locusts come, and caterpillars 
without number;”’ let him but hiss for the fly, 
and it is ready to perform the work of ravage. 


56 LETTERS ON 


Whenever it pleases God to visit a nation with 
famine, all the causes by which it is usually 
produced, are in obedience to his will. The 
time, the degree, and the result of their ope- 
ration, are all detailed in those plans of wis- 
dom by which he governs the world. 

War is another engine often employed to 
bring man to his end. While we are bound 
to believe, on the authority of Scripture, that 
pestilence, disease and famine, perform their 
work in obedience to the divine command, 
can we, with equal clearness and satisfaction, 
perceive that the rise, the progress and desola- 
tions of war are subject to the same control? 
If there was to be “war with Amalek from 
generation to generation,” it is because “ the 
Lord hath sworn that he will have it.” If 
many of the Hagarites fell down slain, it was 
“ because the war was of God.”? Exod. xvi. 
16. 1 Chron. v. 22. When David was to be 
chastised for his criminal imprudence in num- 
bering the people, war was one of the scourges 
offered to his choice. Had war been his pre- 
ference, we have the same reasons to believe, 
that this would have been sent, as that the pes- 
tilence was actually sent from the Lord. 
have, therefore, the same reasons for believing 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 57 


that the rage of war is as certainly directed 
and limited by an Almighty arm, that we 
have for believing that pestilence and famine 
are thus directed and limited. When his pur- 
poses are accomplished, then “he maketh 
war to cease unto the end of the earth.’’? The 
death of those who fall by the sword, is em- 
braced in the providence of God equally with 
those who die by disease. 

Nor are we destitute of authority for ascrib- 
ing to the Arbiter of nations even the causes 
of war. He must, of course, exercise his 
power over these causes, as well as over that 
war which is their effect. “Blessed be the 
Lord my strength,” saith the Psalmist, “ who 
teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to 
fight.” If it originates in the wrath of man, 
“surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, 
the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain.” 
“The king’s heart,’’ that is, his passions, dis- 
positions, designs, &c., “is in the hand of the 
Lord, as rivers of water: he turneth it whither- 
soever he will.’? Psal. exliv. 1.—xlvi. 10. 
Prov: xxi: 

It appears, from this induction of particu- 
lars, that we are justified in believing that 
death, with all the means by which it is pro- 

6 


58 LETTERS ON 


duced, are constantly under the direction of an 
overruling providence, which controls, with 
unerring certainty, all their movements and 
effects; not with respect to a few only, but to 
every individual of the human family. Any 
other supposition, as it appears to me, must, 
and will involve us in absurdities. If one sin- 
gle circumstance, contributing to the death of 
any person should not be under the control of 
heaven, under whose shall we place it Mat- 
ter has no intelligence, can exercise no thought, 
and is, therefore, incapable of forming a de- 
sign to move, or produce any effect whatever. 
Noxious vapours have no intention of rising 
from the earth, mingling their unhealthy qual- 
ities with the air, and thus producing disease 
and death. The earth, the sun, and the clouds, 
hold no consultation, in order to produce a 
famine for the destruction of man. To sup- 
pose that man, independently of divine aid, 
has any commanding influence over the causes 
of his own death, has already appeared impos- 
sible. Shall we, then, ascribe such an agency 
to angels? They are expressly said to be 
ministering spirits, under the government of 
God, sent forth for the execution of his plans. 
They possess no independent agency. They, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 59 


with all the powers they possess, are as com- 
pletely dependent on God, as the worm that 
crawls on the earth. Why, then, should they 
be supposed capable of dividing the govern- 
ment of the world with their Creator? For 
if men or angels, by an independent power of 
their own, determine one single event, over 
that event they would govern; of course, it 
could not be under, nor even belong to the 
government of God. Then his kingdom 
would not he all: here would be one 
event, together with its governor, completely 
independent of his power. There is no being 
in existence capable of exercising an independ- 
ent power but one, that is God. 

The death of all other animals is included 
in the wise and comprehensive designs of the 
Almighty. They are all his creatures, and 
share in his fatherly regard. Man, for his 
own amusement, may destroy the life of a 
sparrow; the hawk may seize and devour it: 
the serpent may crush it in his coil; but each 
of these are but instruments in the hand of 
God,employed in accomplishing his purposes; 
“for one sparrow shall not fall on the ground,”’ 
that is, die, “ without your Father.’’ If this 
be true, respecting the sparrow, by the fairest 


60 LETTERS ON 


inference, it is also true of all the fowls of the 
air; and, indeed, of every living creature: all 
are equally under the notice of his eye, and 
surrounded by his providence. If they are 
troubled, according to the beautiful language 
of the Psalmist, it is because “ thou hidest thy 
face; if they die, and return to their dust, it 
is because “ thou takest away their breath.” | 
I hope, before this time, you have seen that 
in Scripture, a wider range 1s given to the 
providence of God, than woul eadily be ad- 
stomed to reflect 


that range. An all-wise and Almighty being 
created, sustains, and governs the whole for 
his own glory. Those who deny, as some do, 
that God has any thing to do with some events 
which take place among men, must, of course, 
deny that the providence of God extends to 
these events; for his providence necessarily 
implies the exercise of his power, in some 
way or other, in bringing these events to pass. 
Providence is not an attribute of Deity, but 
the manner in which his attributes, especially 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 61 


his wisdom, power, and goodness, are em- 
ployed in governing the world. 

Although the above remarks relate chiefly 
to this world, yet there can be no doubt but 
the great Sovereign exercises the same pater- 
nal care over every other part of the universe. 
If those planets, which make a part of that 
system to which our earth belongs, be inhabit- 
ed, as modern philosophy supposes, over all 
their inhabitants, over all their actions, and 
over all their changes, which in any manner 
affect their existence, the eternal Jehovah 
watches with a sleepless eye, and guides 
them with an unwearied and invincible hand. 
To each individual, and to each event, his 
guardian providence extends, with as much ac- 
curacy and ease, as if that individual, and that 
event were the only objects which engaged his 
attention. Modern astronomers consider it 
probable that all those lucid points, called 
fixed stars, are, in reality, so many suns, like 
the one which enlightens our globe, and 
makes our day; that these suns are centres, 
around which systems of worlds revolve; and 
that these worlds are all inhabited, by crea- 
tures of various orders. If this be admitted 
as probable, the Bible teaches us to view the 


62 LETTERS ON 


Almighty Parent as watching over, sustaining, 
and governing all these worlds, and all-their 
inhabitants, and all their actions, and all the 
circumstances which diversify their existence. 
Not only these worlds and their inhabitants, 
but a detail of events, from the greatest to the 
least, is embraced by his plan, in the execu- 
tion of which his hand is continually employ- 
ed. “Great and marvellous are thy works, 
Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy 
ways, thou King of saints.”’ 


& 
LETTER VI. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE NEITHER SUSPENDS NOR VIOLATES THE 
FREE AGENCY OF MAN. 


Ir has not escaped my recollection that there 
are many objections advanced against the sen- 
timents contained in the preceding remarks; 
some of which are founded on misapprehen- 
sion, others relate to what is really incompre- 
hensible to our limited capacities. ‘There are 
many who believe, without hesitation, that the 
world was created by the power of God. Here 
they understand the general term, world, in 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 63 


its proper sense, as including each and every 
particular belonging to the world. In the 
meaning of this complex term, they include 
each man, animal, or living creature, each tree 
and plant, and atom of matter. As it regards 
creation, they do not object to the minutest 
detail of particulars. Probably they will not 
object to the statement that God is the Gover- 
nor of the world; but they will not understand 
the term, world, in the same sense as in the 
former case; but in a vague, indefinite sense, 
of which the mind can form no distinct idea. 
If you mention particulars, for instance, certain 
events brought to pass by the agency of men, 
objections will soon be made. Now, what we 
ask, and have a right to claim, is, that they 
will understand the term in the same sense in 
this case as in the former; as including all the 
particulars belonging to this complex term, 
when used in relation to the divine govern- 
ment. If we admit that the world is governed 
by the Almighty, if we understand the word 
correctly, we admit that all the particulars, 
that is, that each individual, and each event 
belonging to the world, is governed by him; 
for the world is made up of these particulars. 
For the sake of illustration, let us take an- 


64 LETTERS ON 


other term, also complex; that is, including a 
number of particulars, in its meaning; but of 
less extent than the term world. “Art thou 
not God in heaven, and rulest not thou over 
all the kingdoms of the heathen; and in thine 
hand is there not power and might so that 
none is able to withstand thee?’? 2 Chron. 
xx. 6. In the meaning of the term kingdom, 
is necessarily included a numberof men, divi- 
ded into rulers and subjects, living under a 
system of laws. Abstract men from the idea 
of a kingdom, and what will remain? nothing; 
for without men there can be no kingdom. 
When therefore it is stated, that God rules 
over a kingdom, the meaning is that he rules 
over the men who compose that kingdom. 
Again; what idea does the term, man, con- 
vey? Does it not include his thoughts, his 
passions, and his actions? If these be separated 
from man, what will be left as the subject 
of government? A soul indeed, but without 
thoughts or passions; 2 body, indeed, but 
without actions. If these are not included in 
the idea of man, there is nothing left which 
can ke governed. Therefore when we say the 
government of God is exercised over man, we 
mean, or at least we ought to mean, that it is 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 65 


exercised over his thoughts, his passions, and 
his actions. If it be not exercised over his 
thoughts, &c., it cannot be exercised over 
man; and if not over each individual man, it 
cannot be over a kingdom; for without men, 
there can be no kingdom. To govern in any 
sense, is to secure a conformity, in the subject 
of government, to some law, or rule. . The 
government of a father, over his family, means 
his inducing them to conform themselves to 
his will, which is the rule. If they disobey 
this law, they are no longer governed by him; 
for they cannot be governed by a law which 
they transgress. He, of course, can be said to 
govern them no further than he can secure, in 
their conduct, a conformity to his will. So 
the divine government means the exercise of 
power sufficient to secure, in the subjects of 
his government, a conformity to his will. But 
the government of God is exercised over the 
thoughts, passions, and actions of men. ‘The 
result is, that the thoughts, &c., of men, are 
subject to the influence of such decisive con- 
trol, as to secure a conformity to his provi- 
dential purposes. Nor is it possible for any 
creature to disobey this government, which, to 
distinguish it from that which is moral, I will 


66 LETTERS ON 


call the Government of his Providence. Part 
of the passage of Scripture last quoted will 
abundantly support this declaration. Such 
also, if I mistake not, is the meaning of Isaiah; 
“¢ My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my 
pleasure: yea, I have spoken it, I will also 
bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will 
also do it.’? Isa. xlvi. 10. The meaning of 
these, and many similar passages, is, I confess 
to my mind, not very obvious when under: 
stood as relating to the moral government, the 
laws of which are shamefully and repeatedly 
transgressed; but clear, forcible, and undeni- 
able, when understood as relating to those wise 
and eternal purposes, according to which the 
providence of God is uniformly conducted. 
Other objections against the doctrine arise 
from the difficulty of reconciling it with the 
free agency of man; and you have more than 
intimated that this was your own case. Many 
others have felt the same difficulty, who have 
acted very differently from what you have, 
or, I trust ever will do: for this reason, they 
have rejected the doctrine altogether. They 
are capable, at least in a certain degree, of 
commanding their own thoughts; which com- 
mand they find may be considerably increased 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 67 


by practice: or if their thoughts are not 
always the result of such command, they are 
naturally produced by the impression of exter- 
nal objects. Perhaps, “to make assurance 
doubly sure,’? they have purposely turned 
their thoughts from object to object, to prove 
that they were free. ‘They can reason on any 
subject, form their designs, and put ‘these 
designs in execution ; they can rise or sit still ; 
can move either the right or the left hand, at 
their own pleasure. How then, they ask, can 
they believe, that there is a divine power, 
reigning over these thoughts, designs, and 
actions, directing the whole, in such a manner 
as to secure a complete conformity to the pur- 
pose of God? ‘They are sure of their own 
free agency; and because they cannot recon- 
cile this doctrine with it, they reject the doc- 
trine. 

I believe in the free agency of manas firmly 
as they can do ; but I do not believe this more” 
firmly than I do that the eternal purpose of 
Jehovah, embracing the thoughts, designs, and 
actions of men, will take effect, at the precise 
moment to which it relates, with absolute cer- 
tainty. Yet I neither comprehend, nor will 
I attempt to explain to you, the connexion 


68 LETTERS ON 


between these two doctrines. Each of them 
is supported by its own appropriate evidence ; 
evidence fully sufficient to produce the most 
genuine conviction of its truth, in every can- 
did mind. And surely we ought to believe 
every doctrine which is supported by sufficient 
evidence ; for this is according to reason and 
_ Seripture; but to comprehend that doctrine is 
avery different thing. We believe that soul 
and body are united, but we do not compre- 
hend this union; shall we on this account 
reject this belief? We believe that most of 
our bodily actions are the result of our own 
volition, but cannot explain the influence of 
the mind over the body; shall we therefore 
renounce our belief of the fact! In short, 
there is nothing which our limited minds can 
fully comprehend. We do not understand 
even that free agency of which we are con- 
scious, still less can we comprehend the coun- 
sels of infinite wisdom. If then we can com- 
prehend neither of these subjects, we cannot 
affirm that they are irreconcilable, or incon- 
sistent with each other. In that part of their 
nature which is beyond the reach of our 
minds, and of which we can form no clearand 
definite conceptions, they may reign together 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 69 


and harmonize in perfect consistency. To 
affirm, as many do, that they cannot agree, 
presupposes, what no man ever possessed, a 
perfect comprehension of their nature. No 
man, I venture to say, would expose his own 
ignorance so far as to deny the prescience of 
God. This knowledge extends to all things; 
to every thought, word, and action of all man- 
kind, to every event in the whole world; for 
“known unto God are all his works from the 
beginning;”? “and all things are naked and 
opened unto the eyes of him, with whom we 
have to do.” If one single thought were sup- 
posed to be unknown to him, from eternity, 
then his knowledge might be increased; but 
this it cannot be; for He is “ perfect in know- 
ledge.”’ Here then is a case presenting the 
same difficulty which the other does; for it is 
just as impossible for us to comprehend the 
connexion between the foreknowledge of 
God, and the free agency of man, as between 
his decrees and this free agency: and yet no 
person denies the prescience of God on this 
.account. The foreknowledge of God implies 
the absolute certainty of all events; yet no 
person ever supposed that it imposes any 
physical restraint, or necessity on the thoughts 


710 LETTERS ON 


or actions of men; every one pursues that 
course to which his inclination leads him, as 
freely as if there was no prescience in the 
Deity. We find no difficulty in believing that 
divine justice and mercy are united, with per- 
fect harmony, in the salvation of sinners 
through Jesus Christ; yet, in all probability, 
before the sublime and wonderful scheme was 
made kaown, angels considered this union 
impossible; because they could not compre- 
hend it. The condemnation of a sinner would 
entirely exclude the exercise of mercy; his 
pardon would as effectually deny the claims of 
justice. How groundless and how presump- 
tuous would have been the conclusion, that 
they could not be reconciled; and that, there- 
fore, there was no such attribute as mercy 
belonging to Deity. Thanks be to God, we 
are taught, and so are the angels, to believe in 
this union; because it is demonstrated in the 
redemption of fallen man. So we now believe 
that, from all eternity, they were united; 
though the precious fact is only known through 
the cross of a divine Saviour. In a state of 
clearer vision, at some period of their endless 
progress in knowledge, the saints may yet 
comprehend the connexion between the high 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 71 


and holy purposes of God, and the free agency 
of intelligent creatures. This may be one 
grade of their boundless elevation; this may be 
part of the happiness reserved for them in hea- 
ven. With a devout expansion of thought, 
inconceivable to them at present, from some 
future exaltation, they may look back on the 
difficulties which now attend this subject, with 
the same feeling with which the man of science 
looks back on the faint, the dark, and imper- 
fect conceptions of infancy and childhood. 

It does not appear to me, that those act con- 
sistently who deny the doctrine respecting the 
divine decrees, because they cannot reconcile 
that doctrine with the free agency of man, 
when similar difficulties, in other cases, do not 
prevent their belief. If they believe in the 
union of soul and body, and in the influence 
of the mind over the body; if they believe in 
the prescience of God, and yet acknowledge 
that in each of these cases, there are difficul- 
ties which they cannot comprehend, why 
should they not also believe in the fore-ordi- 
nation of God, though they cannot reconcile 
it, or rather cannot compreliend its reconcilia- 
tion with the free agency of men? Especially 
when the truth of this doctrine is supported 


Te LETTERS ON 


by authority as abundant, and as amply suffi- 
cient to produce conviction, as in either of the 
other cases. They, no doubt, and perhaps 
yourself also, will reply, let us have this autho- 
rity. You shall have what I conceive amounts 
to such authority. 

In the Bible many occurrences were fore- 
told by the prophets long before they hap- 
pened. These prophecies rendered the events 
to which they related undeniably certain; so 
much so, that they are often spoken of in the 
present tense, or as having already taken 
place; when in reality several hundred years 
were to intervene. In many instances where 
the prophecy was delivered, there appeared to 
human view little or no probability that it 
would ever be verified: still it was not the 
less certain; for it was the language of eternal 
and immutable truth. Its accomplishment 
often required the instrumentality of man, 
whose free agency is not to be suspended; 
still it is certain, “ for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it.”’ 

By the voice of prophecy God was pleased 
to make known to man various events which 
he intended to accomplish; one of which was 
the destruction of Babylon, and the subversion 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 73 


of the Chaldean empire. Isaiah appears to 
have been the first prophet by whom the 
divine purpose respecting this city was de- 
clared. It is found in the 13th chapter of his 
Prophecies, and is entitled, The burden of 
Babylon. This prediction is, by chronolo- 
gers, supposed to have been delivered about 
two hundred years before the event took place. 
In the judgment of human wisdom, many cir- 
cumstances appeared to render this occurrence 
very improbable. The Jews were residing in 
quietness in their own land; and yet one de- 
sign of this calamity was to release them from — 
captivity; of which they had not at this time 
the least expectation. Indeed, it is supposed 
that the Jews had as yet but little acquain- 
tance with the Chaldeans. The Medes, who 
are particularly mentioned as the executors of 
the divine decrees, were at this time but an 
inconsiderable people. Babylon for many 
years subsequent to this prophecy, continued 
to increase in population, in opulence and 
power, until it reached its zenith, during the 
reign of Nebuchadnezzar, when it fully an- 
swered the description of the prophets, who 
called it “great Babylon; the beauty of the 
Chaldee’s excellency; the golden city,’’ &c. 
7, 


74. LETTERS ON 


Yet powerful and splendid as it was, the pro- 
phet saw it, in the volume of the divine coun- 
sels, prostrate in ruin, swept with the besom 
of destruction. 

The downfall of this proud metropolis of 
the east was predicted, not merely in general 
terms, but with considerable minuteness. The 
city was to be invaded; her monarch and her 
nobles slain; her treasures carried off; her 
once crowded population to be dispersed; wild 
beasts were to become her inhabitants; her 
walls, her palaces, and temples either demolish- 
ed by the hand of man, or gradually consumed 
by the ravages of time; her very surface was 
destined to become a desert, no longer afford- 
ing sustenance even to the wild beasts, which 
were then to be succeeded by serpents and 
scorpions, lurking beneath the fragments of 
her ruins, and threatening death to man; so 
that even the roving and adventurous Arab 
will be deterred from pitching his tent there. 

The agents to be employed in fulfilling 
these prophecies were particularly mentioned. 
The Medes were named for this purpose; and 
for this reason the Lord calls them Azs sanc- 
tified ones, whom he had appointed and set 
apart for this service. About thirty years 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 1) 


after, the commander-in-chief of these victo- 
rious armies is called by name, upwards of 
one hundred years before he was born. Cyrus 
is the man chosen to triumph over Babylon; 
and thus to commence the fulfilment of those 
prophecies relating to that devoted city. For 
this reason the Lord calls him Ads anointed; 
as one set apart and qualified for this work. 
His success was certain; for the King of kings 
promised to go before him, and hold his right 
hand. 

Many circumstances respecting the manner 
in which Cyrus would enter the city, are par- 
ticularly mentioned. Babylon, when subju- 
gated by the Medes, was surrounded by a 
wall, as historians inform us, séxty miles in 
compass, erghty feet thick, and three hundred 
and fifty feet high; forming an exact square, 
eacn side of which was fiyteen miles long, 
built of brick, cemented with bitumen, which 
in a short time becomes harder than the brick. 
In each of the four sides were éwenty-five 
gates, formed of solid brass, opening into the 
same number of streets which crossed each 
other at right angles. A branch of the river 
Euphrates passed through the city, dividing it 
into two equal parts. The banks of the river 


wee) LETTERS ON 


were faced with strong brick walls, to keep it 
within its channel, and were extended several 
miles beyond the city. Opposite to each street, 
on either side of the river, was a brazen gate 
in the wall, with stairs leading down from it 
to the river; which gates were open in the day 
and shut in the night. The river passing 
through the city was more than a quarter of a 
mile broad, and ten or twelve feet deep. It 
- was explicitly foretold that this 7zver should 
be dried up; also that these ¢wo-leaved bra- 
zen gates should be opened before Cyrus, and 
not be shut. It was predicted that the city 
should be taken by surprise, and during a 
drunken feast; and that the king should be 
instantaneously seized with the greatest horror 
and dismay. No time was yet specified for the 
accomplishment of these purposes. At length 
this also is given. Seventy years before these 
events actually commenced, the prophet was 
inspired to declare, that at the end of that 
period, the king of Babylon should be pun- 
ished with these calamities. Jer. xxv. 12. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. TF 


LETTER VII. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE PERFECTLY CONSISTENT WITH THE FREE 
AGENCY OF MAN. 


Tne page of prophecy has informed us what 
God intended to do respecting Babylon; the 
same page in part, but chiefly the page of pro- 
fane history will inform us of the exact accom- 
plishment of all these pre-ordinations. As 
the time approaches for the divine purpose to 
take effect, we see every agent and every cir- 
cumstance mentioned in the prediction appear- 
ing, and assuming a state of preparation for 
the grand catastrophe. Evil-merodach, son 
and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, took one 
important step in that preparation, by making 
an unprovoked attack on the Medes. WNeri- 
glisser, his successor, hastens this preparation. 
Jealous of the growing power of the Medes, 
he excites against them a general confederacy 
of the neighbouring nations. Thus the Medes 
were fired with a spirit of irreconcilable en- 
mity and revenge against Babylon. At the 
proper moment, the commander-in-chief of 
the invading army is born and is called Cyrus; 
a name given him by the prophet an hundred 


78 LETTERS ON 


years before his birth. The first twelve years 
of his life were spent with his father; and he 
was educated after the Persian manner, in 
hardship and toil, and all such laborious exer- 
cises as would tend to fit him for the fatigues 
of war. At this early period, he surpassed all 
of his age, not only in his aptness to learn, but 
in the courage and address with which he ex- 
ecuted whatever he undertook. The next five 
years were spent at the court of Media, with 
his grandfather. Here he was generally be- 
loved on account of his generous and amiable 
disposition, and especially for the military 
prowess which he displayed. He engaged par- 
ticularly the affections of the king and the 
nobility, and thus laid the foundation for that 
attachment to his person which enabled him 
to act an important part in that great drama 
just opening on the world. — He then returned 
to the Persian court, and resided with his 
father till he attained the age of forty. By 
this time so many preparatory events had taken 
place as pointed out the period for some deci- 
sivemovement. The last sand, measuring the 
glory of Babylon, is now ready to fall. Ac- 
cordingly Cyrus is appointed generalissimo of 
an army composed of Medes and Persians. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 79 


This army approaches the devoted city; for 
where the carcass is, there will the eagles be 
gathered together. Belshazzar, who then 
reigned at Babylon, hearing that Cyrus was 
approaching his metropolis, marched out to 
give him battle: but being easily routed, he 
retreated into the city where he was closely 
besieged. But the great height and strength 
of the walls, environed with ditches, and im- 
pregnable to every mode of attack then known; 
the numerous troops employed in their de- 
fence; immense magazines of provisions, suf- 
ficient for the consumption of many years, 
with the great extent of fertile land within the 
city, capable of furnishing continual supplies; 
ail concurred in rendering the siege of Baby- 
Jos an arduous and almost hopeless enterprise. 
This extraordinary combination of difficulties 
did not discourage Cyrus, nor did length of 
time overcome his perseverance. Despairing 
of taking the city by storm, he drew round its 
immense circuit a line of circumvallation, 
with a large and deep ditch, to cut off its com- 
munication with the country. But the Baby- 
lonians, trusting in the strength of their walls, 
their vast magazines and fruitful gardens, in- 
sulted Cyrus from the ramparts, and seemed 


80 LETTERS ON 


to defy all his efforts, and thus resigned them~- 
selves to a fatal security. Cyrus, having spent 
two whole years before Babylon without mak- 
ing any impression, adopted the following 
stratagem, which proved successful. There 
was, on the west side of the city, a vast lake, 
dug to receive the waters of the river, while 
the brick walls which faced its banks were 
building, and also to receive the redundant 
waters in time of great floods, and thus to pre- 
serve the plain country from inundation, In- 
formed that a great annual festival was about 
to be kept in the city, and that it was custom- 
ary to spend the whole night on these occa- 
sions in drunkenness and debauchery, he 
determined to embrace this opportunity for 
surprising them. Acccrdingly he sent a strong 
detachment to the head of the great canal, 
leading from the river to the lake, with orders, 
at a particular hour, to break down the bank 
which separated between the lake and the 
canal, and thus to turn the whole current of 
the river into the lake. At the same time he 
stationed one body of troops where the river 
entered the city, and another below where it 
eame out, with orders to march in by the bed 
of the river as soon as they should find it ford- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 8] 


able. The same evening he caused the head 
of his trenches on both sides of the river above 
the city to be cut, that the water might dis- 
charge itself into them; so that by means of 
these different outlets,.the channel was soon 
low enough to admit the entrance of the 
troops. The two bodies of troops above men- 
tioned, conducted by Babylonian deserters, 
entered by the bed of the river, and finding 
the brazen gates at the end of the streets left 
open in consequence of the riot and disorder 
of the night, they penetrated into the heart of 
the city without opposition. According to 
the concerted plan of operation, they met at 
the royal palace, where the king was giving a 
grand licentious entertainment to a@ thousand 
of his nobles. Dan. v. 1. The supposition 
of some writers, that these troops had already 
entered the city, when the hand-writing ap- 
peared on the wail, is extremely probable. 
Having surprised and cut off the guards, they 
rushed into the palace and slew the king and 
his dissolute courtiers. The people being ap-: 
prized of this event, submitted, and the vic- 
tory was complete without further opposition. 
The reduction of Babylon put an end to the 
Babylonian empire, and finally fulfilled in the 
8 


82 LETTERS ON 


name and character of the conqueror, and in 
the various circumstances which attended this 
event, the prophecies which Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
and Daniel had uttered against this proud me- 
tropolis. 

Here we may remark with what accuracy 
the predictions of the prophets were verified 
in this victory, and in the consequences which 
flowed from it. While the prophecies are 
receiving their accomplishment, there is no 
violence done to the free agency of man; and 
yet men are the principal agents in producing 
these effects. Every person concerned is in- 
fluenced, in the ordinary way, by the circum- 
stances with which they were surrounded. 
It is highly probable, if not certain, that Cyrus 
knew nothing of these prophecies, and of 
course could not act with a design to fulfil 
them; and yet had this been the fact, had he 
been acquainted with them from his youth, 
and had he intended their accomplishment, he 
could not possibly have done it more accu- 
rately than he did. His parents gave him the 
very name mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, 
an hundred years before he was born. He 
received precisely that education, possessed 
that temper of mind, and that constitution of 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 83 


body, which qualified him to act the part 
assigned him. He grew up with an increasing 
thirst for military fame, without which he 
would not have undertaken, or been fitted for 
the enterprise. Every circumstance attended, 
every event occurred, at the proper moment 
necessary to verify the emphatic language of 
the prophet, “I girded thee.” The girding 
implies all that was requisite to fit him for 
this memorable campaign. The martial spirit 
which he by: nature possessed; the active em- 
ployments, the toils and fatigues in which he 
was from his infancy trained; that noble dis- 
position, and those pleasing manners, by which 
he gained the favour and confidence of the 
kings and nobles both of Persia and Media, 
were all essential parts of this preparation. 
Had he possessed a timid spirit, had his dispo- 
sition been grovelling and mean, his manners 
uncouth and forbidding, he would not have 
been girded for this purpose. Without the 
lake, into which Cyrus turned the waters of 
the Euphrates, he could not have gained the 


victory; because there was no other way in | 
which he could enter the city... This: lake, ay 


intended by those who dug it for a very dif- 
ferent purpose, was designed by providence 


84. LETTERS ON 


to enable Cyrus to dry up the river, and thus 
to enter. Had the brazen gates, placed at the 
end of the streets leading to the river, been 
securely shut, he could not, even from the 
river, have entered the city or reached the 
palace. But this was one circumstance par- 
ticularly mentioned by the prophet; “I will 
loose the loins of kings, to open before him 
the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not 
be shut.”? Isaiah xlv. 1. We are informed 
that it was the constant practice to close these 
gates every night, yet on this night they were 
not shut. 

Other kings, and other causes, through suc- 
cessive ages, have contributed to the complete 
accomplishment of all the particulars, pre- 
dicted by the prophets, respecting the ruin of 
the splendid city. At this day, the place where 
it stood cannot with certainty be ascertained. 

Nothing can be more undeniably certain 
than that God had determined the capture and 
desolation of Babylon long before the event 
took place; for the prophets were inspired to 
announce this determination to the world. 
This determination must necessarily include 
and secure the existence and co-operation of 
all the agents, means, and circumstances on 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 85 


which the event depended. Had one of these 
agents been wanting, one of these causes failed 
to operate, one of these circumstances been 
different, the event, without a miracle, would 
not have taken place. God, however, who 
decreed the event, decreed also the means 
necessary for the accomplishment of his pur- 
pose. 

Men were the principal agents in execu- 
ting the divine plan. Cyrus was his anointed; 
the Medes were his sanctified ones; the loins 
of the kings of Babylon were loosed. These 
men were all free agents, who willingly per- 
form their respective parts, without being 
conscious of the slightest compulsion. They 
knew not the Lord, nor his designs. Of 
Cyrus particularly, one of the principal agents, 
it is affirmed, that he knew him not. Their 
thoughts were employed as freely about the 
objects which engaged their attention as ours 
are. They deliberated, formed their own 
plans, provided their means, selected their 
own time, and proceeded to bring these means 
into operation, for the execution of these plans 
according to their own intentions and views 
of propriety. And yet all this was_per- 
fectly according to the foreordination of God 


86 LETTERS ON 


respecting Babylon. Every object which 
interested their attention, the dispositions and 
passions by which they were impelled, the 
means they provided, the time they selected, 
the plans they formed, the end they proposed, 
were all subservient to the designs of Jehovah, 
and contributed with perfect accuracy to the 
execution of his plans. Had no such purpose 
existed in the divine mind, they could not 
have deliberated and acted with greater free- 
dom than they did; and yet had they been as 
destitute of reason and free agency as the hail, 
snow, or stormy wind, they could not better 
have fulfilled the word of God, or better an- 
swered his purpose. 

We have, then, as it appears to me, the very 
best authority for believing that the divine 
purposes are accomplished with absolute cer- 
tainty, through the agency of men, while these 
men think, deliberate, and act, with the great- 
est freedom. Their free agency is not sus- 
pended; nor does it, for a moment, suffer the 
least violence. No man can deny either of 
these propositions without involving himself 
in contradiction and absurdity. Both are un- 
deniably true; and, therefore, do not imply 
the least inconsistency; for truth is always 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 87 


consistent. But while this is my firm belief, 
I repeat that I cannot comprehend this con- 
sistency. Neither can I comprehend the 
manner of the divine operations in any case, 
er on any subject. How the universe was 
created, how it is sustained and governed, I 
cannot: comprehend; and yet, if I believe any 
thing, I believe that it was created, that it is 
sustained and governed by the wisdom and 
power of God. I cannot comprehend the in- 
fluence of my own mind on my body; and 
yet the pen, which writes these words, is 
moving in consequence of that influence. 


Se ee: oan 


LETTER VIII. 


A METHOD OF ASCERTAINING THE EXTENT OF DIVINE PRO- 
VIDENCE—GREAT EVENTS NATURALLY INCLUDE ALL THE 
LESS ONES, OF WHICH THEY ARE MADE UP. 


You will admit, no doubt, that the subjugation 
of Babylon was decreed by the Ruler of the 
universe, long before the event took place; for 
so it was predicted by the prophets. Now, 
this is the nature of all prophecy: certain 
parts of the divine plan, according to. the 
counsels of his own wisdom, respecting na- 


88 LETTERS ON 


tions, cities, or individuals are made known to 
man. As soon as the prophecy is delivered, 
the decree of God is thus known. Many of 
these prophecies have been, others still remain 
to be fulfilled. Of those which have been ac- 
complished, relating to cities, none are more 
remarkable than those respecting Jerusalem, 
delivered by our Saviour. Josephus records 
the exact and dreadful accomplishment of 
these predictions, Of those relating to indi- 
viduals, none are more remarkable than those 
which foretold the birth, the life, the charac- 
ter, the sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ; 
the accomplishment of all which, even to the 
minutest circumstance, is contained in the 
New Testament. I need not tell you that 
the Bible, from the ake to the end, is 
filled with prophecies; all of which are de- 
clarations from God, making known to man, 
, his intentions and purposes. 

That these purposes existed in the divine 


| mind, before they were communicated to the 
prophet, is undeniable. It is equally undeni- 
_ able, in my view, that they existed from all 


i 


i 


eternity. To suppose any thing else, is to 
, make God imperfect and mutable like our- 


j . 
selves. As our knowledge increases, and our 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 89 


views enlarge, we form new plans, propose 
new ends. Not so, however, with Ged. His 
knowledge and wisdom are infinite, and can 
receive no. addition; and his purposes are as 
eternal as his wisdom; the reasons on which 
they were founded, always. existed. There 
never was a period, in time or eternity, if the 
expression be allowed, when the purposes 
relating to Babylon and Jerusalem did not 
exist In the divine mind; and exist, too, in all 
that detail, in which they were made known 
through the prophets, and have long since 
been verified in the history of those cities. 
This may be affirmed of all the prophecies 
contained in the Bible; from all eternity, it 
was the unalterable’ purpose of God, that all 
those events should take place which the pro- 
phets had predicted. 

Although, I doubt not, but you read the 
Bible with care and profit, yet let me request 
you to read it for the special purpose of ascer- 
taining all the prophecies which it contains, 
from the first to the last. Note down, in one 
column, those which relate to nations, including 
all their population; in another, those relating 
to cities, with their inhabitants; in another, 
those respecting individuals, &c. In connexion 


90 LETTERS ON 


with each of these, as far as practicable, note 
the events predicted. Then go somewhat 
more into detail; consider all the agents, with 
their qualifications; all the means, with their 
operation; the existence of all the circum- 
stances, indispensably necessary to the occur- 
rence of these events. From a review of the 
whole, although you may not be convinced 
that “all things, whatsoever come to pass,” 
are embraced, yet, I rather think, you will be 
surprised to find what a great number, and 
vast variety of events will be included in this 
plan; all of which were, of course, embraced 
in the purpose of God, and thus rendered 
certain. 

The promises of God, especially those called 
unconditional promises, are of the same nature; 
the fulfilment of them is undeniably certain. 
All the agents, means, and circumstances, 
necessary for their fulfilment, are equally cer- 
tain. Such was the promise of God, to Abra- 
ham, respecting Ishmael: “ Of the son of the 
bond-woman will I make a nation, because 
he is thy seed.”? Gen. xxi. 13. Go through 
your Bible a second time, and note all such 
promises; consider all the agents, means, and 
circumstances implied in verifying these words 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 9] 


of the Lord, and you will find it will very 
much increase the number and variety of those 
events, thus rendered certain, long before they 
take place. These promises, like the prophe- 
cies, rest on the faithfulness of God, which 
cannot fail; his character is pledged for the 
accomplishment of both. 

" Note also, all those events, which although 
neither predicted nor promised, are yet expli- 
citly ascribed to God; such as the preservation 
of human life, feeding the ravens, clothing the 
grass, &c., consider all the means and second 
causes on which these events depend. All 
these works of the Lord are performed accord- 
ing to an intention previously existing in the 
Divine mind; which intention secures the 
occurrence of the events, with all the second 
causes on which they depend. After casting 
your eye over the whole scheme, thus arrang- 
ed, permit me to ask you, what event is there, 
belonging to this world, which is not included, 
either in the prophecies, the promises, or the 
works plainly ascribed to God? Nor can I 
perceive the least exaggeration, or unfairness 
in this process, which you may pursue with 
both pleasure and profit; the whole of it rests 
on the firm basis of Scripture, which cannot 
be shaken. 


99 LETTERS ON 


Some, I am aware, will readily admit that 
certain great events, such as the capture of 
Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem, 
were foreordained, in the counsels of eternal 
wisdom, but they hesitate in admitting all the 
details, without which these events could not 
take place. In my view, however, the latter 
are necessarily implied and embraced in the 
former. Babylon is to fall; not by an earth- 
quake, nor by the lightning of heaven;. but by 
an army of men. This army must have a 
commander; the existence, therefore, of this 
commander is certain; equally certain is the 
existence of his parents before him; these also 
were born of parents, who preceded them, and 
so on through all the line of their ancestors 
up to Noah, and from Noah to Adam, who 
came immediately from the hand of God. But 
this commander, distinguished as he was for 
military powers, could not have achieved the 
victory alone: an army was necessary. This 
army was composed of individuals; of course, 
the existence of these individuals was certain; 
for without them there could be no army; 
and without an army, Babylon could not be 
taken; and thus the prophecy could not have 
been fulfilled. Two-leaved gates were to be 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 93 


opened before Cyrus. “Will any person ven- 
ture to say that this does not render certain 
the existence of such gates? Yet these gates 
were formed by men who were influenced by 
their own motives, and ‘without the least 
knowledge {of the purpose of God.~ In the 
same manner they were left. open. ‘Similar 
remarks may be made respecting the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. This devoted city was to 
be surrounded and destroyed by an army; 
this army must have a commander; this ren- 
dered certain, therefore, the existence both of 
the commander, and of the individuals who 
composed that army. 

Many prophecies in the Old Testament 
relate exclusively to the divine Saviour. He 
was to be a descendant of David. Does not 
this necessarily secure the existence of some, 
at least of David’s descendants until this won- 
derful child should be born? The place of 
his birth is mentioned. But Bethlehem is 
not the residence of his parents. Their pre- 
sence there, however, at the appointed time, 
is rendered certain by the prediction. I need 
not mention to you, the reasons which induced 
them to visit this village. In short, how often 
do the Evangelists, in narrating the events of 


94. LETTERS ON 


his life and of his death remark, “This was 
done that it mignt be fulfilled which was spo- 
ken by the prophet.” 

It has already appeared what an extensive 
influence, over the world of nature, divine 
providence must employ in preserving the life 
of one individual: the promise of God, that 
he would make of Ishmael a nation, was made 
with a perfect knowledge of all that was neces- 
sary to secure its accomplishment, and with a 
real intention to provide all the means neces- - 
sary for that purpose. Ishmael of course was 
preserved through many dangers, and from 
him has descended a nation which exists to 
this day. This is only one of a great number 
of promises, involving a divine control over a 
vast variety of events, all of which were neces- 
sary to ‘the fulfilment of these promises, and 
the occurrence of which was unalterably fixed. 

To admit that some great events are decreed, 
and thus rendered certain, and yet not to ad- 
mit, in like manner, that all the details, all 
the particular parts, on which the great event 
depends, manifests, it appears to me, a want 
of reflection, an ignorance of the Bible, and of 
the character and providence of God, with 
which no consistent and intelligent Christian 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 95 


should be chargeable. The truth is, that all 
great events are made up of smaller ones com- 
bined together. That purpose of God which 
renders certain the occurrence of great events, 
renders equally certain, in their own time 
and order, the occurrence of all those smaller 
events, of which the great one is made up. 
The ocean is made up of single drops; the 
earth is composed of small atoms. Without 
drops, there could be no ocean; without atoms, 
no earth. To suppose that God determined 
to create the earth, without determining to 
ereate the atoms of which it is composed, is 
not more inconsistent with truth, or more 
unworthy the wisdom and character of God, 
than to suppose that he determined the occur- 
rence of a great event, without including in 
his determination, all the subordinate events 
even down to the minutest cirtumstance, on 
which the great one depends. The conquest 
of Babylon was a great event. This was 
gained by an army composed of individuals, 
whose concurrent and united exertions result- 
ed in this conquest. Without a certain degree 
of muscular strength and military skill, these 
exertions could not have been made; without 
regular and suitable nourishment, this strength 


96 _ LETTERS ON 


could not be secured; without previous train- 
ing, this skill could not be acquired. Had this 
training, and this nourishment not been receiv- 
ed, this strength and this skill would not have 
been possessed; of course, these exertions could 
not have been made; without these, the vic- 
tory could not have been gained; and thus the 
divine prediction would have failed; the word 
of the Lord would have returned to him void. 

The man who makes a promise to his neigh- 
bour, without having in view the probable 
means of fulfilling it, is chargeable with im- 
prudence, dishonesty, or wickedness, perhaps 
all together. If your neighbour, labouring 
under pecuniary embarrassments, should apply 
to you for the loan of a particular sum which 
would relieve him, and promise to repay it at 
the end of twelve months, you would no 
doubt wish to be informed of the means that 
would secure a compliance with his promise. 
If he could satisfy you on this point, you 
would consider this promise reasonable, and 
grant him relief. But if he failed in giving 
this satisfaction; if he possessed no probable 
means of complying with his promise; you 
would not only refuse to trust him, but would 
consider him a dishonest man, who intended 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 97 


to deceive you. Let us beware, then, of 
ascribing to God our Maker, a procedure 
which would disgrace a human being, even in 
the view of such sinful creatures as we are. 
Let God be true, though every man should be 
a liar. When he promises the occurrence of 
any event or state of things, it is with an 
immutable intention of accomplishing that pro- 
mise. The means of this accomplishment are 
as distinctly in his view, and as much the 
objects of his care, and the subjects of his con- 
trol, as the event itself. Suppose him to leave 
these out of view, or to possess no power to 
secure their existence, and you Suppose him 
to resemble a weak and imprudent man. 
Long before the event occurred, the pro- 
phets declared the intention of God, that Baby- 
lon should be taken. This intention, as we 
have seen, existed in the divine mind from all 
eternity. But unless Babylon exists it cannot 
be taken. This intention, therefore, rendered 
unalterably certain, before the foundation of 
the world, the existence of Babylon. When 
the earth received its form, the site of this city 
was marked out on its surface. This spot, 
destined to be the theatre of such memorable 
events, may, through successive ages, be 
9 


98 LETTERS ON 


covered by the trees of the forest, may be 
the resort of wild beasts, be untrodden by the 
foot of man; but at the appointed hour the 
forest shall disappear, the wild beasts shall 
seek another resort, the architect shall stretch 
his line and execute his plans—here the walls 
shall run, here the temple and the palace shall 
stand, and Babylon shall rear her head to the 
skies. When or by whom this city was found- 
ed is uncertain. ‘Some say it was founded 
by Semiramis, and according to others by 
Belus, who is thought by many to be the 
same with Nimrod; but whoever was the 
founder, it was, in process of time, much 
improved; and Nebuchadnezzar in particular 
repaired, enlarged, and beautified it to such a 
degree, that he may be said to have built it 
according to his own vain-glorious boast: ‘ Is 
not this great Babylon, which J have built for 
the house of the kingdom, by the might of my 
power, and for the honour of my majesty?? ”’ 
Dan. iy. 30. Babylon is not only to exist, but 
to exist in a style of splendour that would 
verify the descriptive language of Scripture 
respecting it. It is there represented as “ great 
Babylon—the golden city—the lady of king- 
doms—abundant in treasures—the praise of 


a 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 99 


the whole earth.’ Profane historians inform 
us that such was the extent, the strength, the 
wealth and splendour of Babylon, as to answer 
these prophetic descriptions: it was for ages 
considered one of the wonders of the world. 
Now, unless Babylon exists, it cannot be 
taken; unless it is built it cannot exist; it was 
not built by miracle, but by human agents, by 
men; these men were rational, were free 
agents like ourselves. They would not have 
acted their respective parts without motives, 
leading them to act; these motives must have 
been derived from their own dispositions, and 
the circumstances in which they were placed. 
Had these dispositions and these circumstances 
been different, these motives would not haye 
existed; without them, these men would not 
have acted; without their agency the city 
could not have been built; of course could not 
have been taken; by consequence, the pro- 
phets who foretold this event, would have 
been found false prophets. But they were 
not false, but true prophets. The divine pur- 
pose which they were commissioned to reveal, 
secured the existence of the city; of course, 
rendered certain the existence of every agent, 
circumstance and motive, in their proper time 


100 LETTERS ON 


and degree, necessary to complete his designs. 
These men, marked cut by divine wisdom for 
these purposes, knew not the Lord nor his 
intentions. Nebuchadnezzar knew not that 
the Most High ruled in the kingdom of men. 
He tells us what was his object, in all that he 
did: “Is not this great Babylon, which I have 
built for the honour of my majesty??? He 
laid his own plans, proposed his own ends; 
yet over these plans and these ends, the high 
purposes of Jehovah reigned with perfect ease 
and certainty, rendering them subservient to 
the existence and unparalleled magnificence 
of this renowned city, as it was found and 
conquered by Cyrus. 


ae 


LETTER IX. 


EVENTS, SIMILAR TO THOSE CONTAINED IN THE PROPHE- 
CIES AND PROMISES OF GOD, ARE ALL INCLUDED IN HIS 
PURPOSE. 


Is your patience so far exhausted, or is your 
mind so well satisfied, that you wish for no- 
thing more on this subject? I wish to offer a 
few additional remarks; you can read or omit » 
them as you think proper. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. LOL 


It was the intention of God that Babylon 
should exist, and that it should be captured by 
Cyrus. For purposes of his own glory, he 
was pleased to make known this intention to 
the world long before the events occurred. 
These events did not occur because this reve- 
lation was made, though in perfect accordance 
with it. The design existed before the reve- 
lation was made. The occurrence of these 
events was not in the least degree more cer- 
tain after this revelation than they were before. 
It was the intention of God, and not the com- 
munication of that intention to man which 
rendered certain this great series of events. If 
it had been according to the* counsels of his 
wisdom, to have withheld from man all know- 
ledge of this intention, these events would 
have taken place precisely at the time and in 
the same order in which they did. Our igno- 
rance of the divine purpose can neither alter 
the nature, nor hasten or retard the accom- 
plishment of that purpose. After the events 
had taken place, we might then have been as 
certain that they were embraced in the divine 
plan, as if they had been predicted by the pro- 
phets. Hence, according to my view, we are 
authorised to infer, that all events similar to 


102 LETTERS ON 


those that have been foretold, and similar to 
those which God has promised to accomplish, 
are equally embraced in the divine purpose, 
with those which he has revealed to man. 
We infer this, not from prophecies or promi- 
ses, but from the occurrence of the events 
themselves. Whatever is accomplished by 
the agency of God, is accomplished according 
to an intention, previously existing in his 
mind; our knowledge, or our ignorance of this 
intention, can have no influence on its execu- 
tion. The Jews, at least the prophets, knew 
that Babylon was to be taken; yet we do not 
find that they had any agency in bringing the 
event to pass: Cyrus was ignorant of the 
divine intention, and yet accomplished the 
will of God. Suppose there had lived a pious 
Jew, who had never seen the predictions 
respecting the capture of Babylon, but who 
had witnessed the occurrence of the event, 
might he not, with the greatest certainty, from 
his knowledge of the divine character and 
government, have inferred, that such had been 
the intention of God from all eternity? If 
these very prophecies had been afterwards 
submitted to his inspection, it could not. have 
increased the certainty of his conclusion. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 103 


With equal certainty we may infer that all 
similar events, accomplished in the providence 
of God, were fixed before-the foundation of 
the world, in his wise and holy purpose. 

The existence, the magnificence, and down- 
fal of Babylon, were predicted; this prediction 
was the divine intention made known to man. 
In the book of God, no prediction is found 
respecting London, Paris, New. York, or 
Philadelphia. We know however, that these 
cities do exist. Their rise, progress, and pre- 
sent state, were all determined in the divine 
purpose; for similar circumstances were thus 
determined respecting Babylon. From all 
eternity, it was as certain that these modern 
cities should exist in their present state, as 
that the famed metropolis of the east should 
exist in the state in which Cyrus found it. 
What the future destiny of these cities is to 
be, we cannot tell; the purpose of God re- 
specting them is not made knowntous. Our 
ignorance, however, eannot alter it, in the 
least. That purpose as certainly exists, and 
will as certainly take effect, as if we knew it 
in all its details. . Whether they shall remain 
to feed the flames of the general conflagration, 
or be demolished by an’ earthquake, or moul- 


104 LETTERS ON 


der under the ravages of time, or be razed 
from their foundations by some victorious 
enemy, we cannot tell; it is known, however, 
to God as distinctly as it will be at the last 
moment of time; and the progress of divine 
providence will disclose it to the world. The 
same remarks may be made, with equal truth, 
respecting every city, town or village, which 
ever has existed, which does now, or ever 
shall exist on this earth. Their beginning, 
their progress and their end, were all fixed in 
the counsels of Him who views, with one 
intuitive glance, the past, the present, and 
what is to come. | 

It is but a few years ago when Moscow, 
one of the ancient cities of Russia, became the 
theatre of events which filled the civilized 
world with astonishment. A mighty chief, the 
late Emperor of France, with his victorious 
army, approached its walls. The Governor 
formed and executed the desperate resolution 
of laying the city in ashes, and thus leaving 
the enemy nothing but a mass of smouldering 
ruins to shelter him from the inclemencies of 
winter. The flight of that chief, and the 
almost unparalleled sufferings and carnage of 
his army, soon followed as the result of that 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 105 


daring measure of defence. Now, in my opin- 
ion, there are sufficient reasons to believe that 
this whole series of events was predetermined, 
from the beginning of the world, in the divine 
plan; and that this plan embraced all the 
agents and causes, and even the minutest cir- 
cumstances which in any manner or degree 
contributed to the grand result. 

Still more recently, a series of events occur- 
red, more deeply interesting to our feelings 
than even the flames of Moscow. During the 
late war, the enemy invaded the metropolis of 
our beloved country, and laid our Capitol and 
other public buildings in ashes. Shall we 
suppose that these events were not embraced 
in the purpose of Him who ruleth among the 
nations? Or did they happen unexpectedly 
to him? Was it not the hand of Providence 
that guided the march of General Ross, as 
well as the march of Cyrus? It will, perhaps, 
be replied, that he was prompted by his own 
ambition. This is readily admitted; and yet 
the admission does not in the least affect the 
conclusion, that this whole transaction, with 
all its details, was embraced in the divine de- 
termination. Cyrus, in his operations against 
Babylon, was prompted by his own motives; 

10 


106 LETTERS ON 


and yet his motives, with the conduct to which 
they led, were the very means of accomplish- 
ing the purposes of God. General Ross could 
not have been influenced by his own inten- 
tions, nor have acted as a free agent more 
than Cyrus did; and yet Cyrus “executed the 
counsel, and performed all the pleasure of the 
Lord.” For this purpose the Lord “ girded 
him, went before him, directed all his ways, 
and held his right hand. To my mind, there 
can be no reasons for supposing that General 
Ross, with his limited and momentary vic- 
tory, was not as certainly and as distinctly 
embraced in the divine purpose, as Cyrus and 
his victory were. The only difference is this: 
the name, character, and conquest of Cyrus 
had been predicted; no prophet had given 
similar information respecting General Ross 
and his operations. And yet had this been 
the fact; had it pleased God, two hundred 
years ago, to make known that a man by the 
name of Ross, at the head of an army, should 
come from the kingdom of Great Britain, and 
in the year 1814, in the month of August, 
enter the city of Washington in triumph, burn 
the Capitol and other public buildings, and 
then hastily retire; this revelation would not 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 107 


have rendered the events in the least more 
certain than they were. From the time of 
such revelation down to the hour when the 
smoke of the buildings ascended, those who 
had access to that revelation, might have 
known that such an event would certainly 
take place. Had he known that this oecur- 
rence was fixed in the purpose of the Al- 
mighty, our exertions could not have pre- 
vented it. The prophecies of God have often 
been accomplished by those who knew no- 
thing of them; and generally, I believe, by 
those who, whether they knew them or not, 
had no such intention at the time. No efforts 
made with a design to frustrate them can ever 
be. successful. The mighty hand that rolls 
along the dispensations of Providence, will 
crush the impious wretch who dares: to make 
opposition. ‘ My word shall not return to me 
void; I will do all my pleasure, saith the 
Lord.” | 

If it was certain from the beginning, that 
Moscow should become a heap of ruins, then 
it was equally certain that Moscow should be 
built, and remain till the very hour when the 
‘torch was applied to it. This secured the 
existence and exertions of those who built and 


108 LETTERS ON 


preserved it. The city of Washington was to 
be invaded, and must, therefore, exist. But 
its existence was impossible without the agen- 
cy of men, under the influence of such motives 
as led to this result. These agents, and their 
motives, together with the circumstances from 
which they were derived, were all guided and 
limited in their operations by the divine pur- 
pose. But why was Moscow laid in ashes? 
Nothing but the most urgent necessity could 
have dictated such a measure. A powerful 
enemy approached; the flames were to snatch 
the city from his grasp; and deprive him of 
the comfort which its provisions and _ its 
palaces might afford. Without this necessity, 
this fire would not have been kindled; with- 
out the approach of such any enemy, this 
necessity would not have existed; the counsels 
of infinite wisdom, therefore, which determin- 
ed that Moscow should be burnt, determined 
all the circumstances also which led to this 
catastrophe—that a man, impelled by bound- 
less ambition, commanding a numerous and 
victorious army, should approach the city; 
also, as the result has proved, that these ruins 
should be the barrier to his success, should, 
like the shores of the ocean, beat back the tide 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 109 


of his ambitious projects, and occasion the 
ebbing of his glory to commence. In like 
manner, the Capitol of our country was not 
consumed by a friend; the hand of an enemy 
alone could perform a deed like this. The 
same unalterable counsel which determined the 
conflagration of that distinguished building, 
determined to provide a hand prepared for the 
task. From the moment of his birth, from the 
foundation of the world, this was to be the work 
of General Ross; none could deprive him of the 
distinction which he gained by its performance. 

Might it not be a pleasing and edifying 
employment of your leisure hours to meditate 
on the designs of Jehovah respecting the Ame- 
rican continent, and especially respecting these 
United States? designs which are eternal as 
the mind in which they exist. The know- 
ledge of them is not obtained from prophetic 
records, but from the page of history, and from 
observation; not from inspiration, but from 
the occurrence of those events, embraced in 
these designs. Passing over those successive 
centuries, during which the very existence of 
this country was known to Europe, begin 
with Columbus, in the deliberations and con- 
clusions of whose masterly genius, and in the 


110 LETTERS ON 


execution of whose plans, the divine purpose 
began to develope itself, The steps taken ir 
consequence of his important discoveries, fur- 
nish a still further development of that pur- 
pose. Come down to the period when the 
first permanent settlements were made on 
these shores. Think of all the causes which 
induced the first emigrants to leave their native 
country, and plant themselves in the new 
world. When this handful of men first set 
foot on the banks of the James River, what 
man, or angel, without the inspiration of God, 
would have predicted that this was the begin- 
ning of a mighty empire? Trace them through 
all their hardships and their perils; consider 
the annual accessions which they received 
from the mother country, till you come to the 
causes of the revolution. This is an epoch 
requiring a more than usual pause. What an 
enlargement | has your views of the divine pur- 

pose now acquired ? Over what a varied and 
interesting chain of events have you now 
passed? giving birth to a new series, not less 
varied, and if possible, still more important. 
If, just now, you contemplated this empire in 
its small beginning, in the wilds of Virginia; 
now you must search for the liberty and inde- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 111 


pendence of the United States in the bosom of 
a few individuals. Perhaps in the mind of 
some one individual the thought first occurred, 
which under the fostering care of Providence, 
has matured into that noble tree, under the 
wide spread branches of which this empire 
now reposes. Hinter the legislative hall, and 
listen to the grave and animated debates of 
our Fathers involving liberty or death; hover 
over the fieid of battle, and with the sympa- 
thies of a brother, listen to the groans of the 
wounded and the dying; station yourself on 
the plains of Little York, and witness, with 
exultation, the last scene of this bloody and 
protracted drama; with thankfulness to the 
Lord of hosts, hear the proclamation of peace 
and independence; see this land of freedom 
assuming a dignified rank among the nations 
of this earth. From that memorable era down 
to the present day you descend and dwell with 
grateful delight on the varied and multiplied 
blessings now enjoyed by these United States. 
These blessings you can easily trace back to 
the conclusions and discoveries of Columbus, 
through a chain of events which we must con- 
template in detached parts, a link at a time, 
but which, as it is viewed, and as it exists 


112 LETTERS ON 


in the divine mind, is one unbroken whole. 
Little did Columbus know the consequences 
which were to flow from the first faint and 
obscure conceptions of his mind. In the pur- 
pose of God, however, they were then as cer- 
tain as they are now. In the counsels of his 
eternal wisdom, neither more nor less was 
intended than has been accomplished in his 
providence. 


LETTER X. 


THE PURFOSES OF GOD NOT INCONSISTENT WITH THE MORAL 
AGENCY OF MAN. 


I rrust it has been made to appear that men 
who were employed in accomplishing the pur- 
poses of God, were free agents; and that there- 
fore there is no inconsistency between them: 
the divine decree neither destroys nor sus- 
pends the free agency of man. Against this 
doctrine, however what is considered a more 
serious objection, is sometimes urged; that it 
is Inconsistent with the moral agency of man. 
If, according to the purpose of God, a man is 
to act a particular part, pursue a certain course 
of conduct, is he, or can he be accountable for 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 113 


his conduct: or can he be criminal in acting 
this part? This objection merits and shall 
receive consideration. 

In my own view, the free agency, and the 
moral agency of man, are substantially the 
same, and may be used as synonymous terms: 
what is generally called reason is the basis of 
both. When reason is wanting, neither free 
agency, nor moral agency can be predicated of 
any creature. According to the general opin- 
ion, brutes do not possess the faculty of rea- 
son; what they do is the result of instinct, not 
of free agency; of course they are not sup- 
posed to be moral agents, or to be accountable 
for their conduct. When it pleases God to 
deprive a man of his reason—a case which 
often occurs—we no longer consider him a 
moral agent. If he should even take the life 
of a fellow creature, the laws of our country 
do not consider him worthy of punishment. 
His conclusions and his conduct are the result 
of necessity; that is, of morbid impressions, 
made, as is generally believed, on his animal 
system. These conclusions, sometimes so dis- 
astrous in their consequences, govern his con- 
duct; the shattered remains of reason being 
too feeble to correct or counteract them. If 


114 LETTERS ON 


then the free agency and the moral agency of 
man are substantially the same, every argu- 
ment which proves the consistency of the 
divine purposes with the free agency, proves 
with equal force and clearness, their consis- 
tency with the moral agency of man. For 
the purpose of proving and illustrating this 
consistency, the case of Cyrus, out of many 
others, equally pertinent, contained in the 
Bible, has been adduced. Profane historians 
inform us that in all his operations, he was 
influenced by his own motives, formed his 
plans, provided his means, pursued his ends, 
and in all respects, manifested a free agency 
as perfect as can be possessed or exercised by 
man. The Bible declares that he executed 
the counsel, and performed all the pleasure of 
God. The man, therefore, who can deny, or 
even doubt this consistency, can deny and 
doubt declarations of the Bible as explicit and 
as unequivocal as it is possible for words to 
be. With such a man, it is vain to think of | 
reasoning. If, while Cyrus was executing the 
counsel, and performing the pleasure of the 
Almighty, he remained a free agent, he was 
also a moral agent; for they are substantially 
the same. That which may, according to the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 115 


Scripture, be affirmed of Cyrus, may, with 
equal truth, be affirmed of every other man 
whose agency has, or ever shall be employed | 
in fulfilling the prophecies, or accomplishing 
the purposes of God. If the objection now 
under consideration, is removed; if it can be 
proved to have no weight in the case of one 
man, it is removed, and proved to have no 
weight in the case of every other man. If 
one has accomplished the designs of Jehovah 
and yet retained his moral agency, so may, 
and so does every son and daughter of Adam. 
God is no respecter of persons; as it regards 
their moral agency, they are all alike. 

Cyrus was two whole years before the walls 
of Babylon before his efforts were crowned 
with success. During this time the prophecies 
and purposes of God were accomplished 
through his agency. When he stands before 
the judgment seat of Christ, will this period 
be omitted? will the thoughts, intentions, and 
conduct of these two years be left out of the 
account, and not appear in the books then to 
be opened? I think the most determined 
opponent of the doctrine which I defend, 
would not hazard an assertion to this effect. 
If, then, these years will not be omitted; if 


116 LETTERS ON 


his thoughts, intentions, and conduct will ap- 
pear, it unavoidably follows that, during this 
period, he was a moral agent; that he was 
accountable for those thoughts and that con- 
duct which, with perfect accuracy, accom- 
plished the divine purpose. If we have the 
highest authority for believing this respect- 
ing Cyrus, we have the same authority for 
believing it respecting every other human 
being. 

Those who advance the objection above 
stated, conceive it difficult and even impos- 
sible to believe that God should determine to 
employ the agency of wicked men in fulfilling 
his designs. They seem to suppose this im- 
plies his approbation of that conduct, or at 
least furnishes some excuse for their wicked- 
ness. While I feel the most affectionate con- 
cern for pious Christians perplexed with 
scruples and difficulties, I cannot but suppose 
they have passed over many passages of the 
Bible without due consideration. Whatever 
is contained in the records of truth, we are 
bound to believe, whether we can comprehend 
its consistency and connexion with other parts 
or not. If I mistake not, there are many 
passages which show most clearly that such is 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 117 


the fact; that the wicked actions of man have 
fulfilled the purpose of divine providence. 
The conduct of Joseph’s brethren towards 
him was unquestionably cruel and very wick- 
ed; such they themselves acknowledged it to 
be, when the hand of adversity was pressing 
upon them. When cast into prison they say, 
“We are verily guilty concerning our brother; 
behold, said Reuben, his blood is required.” 
Hear the language of Joseph, when he disco- 
vered himself to them, respecting this conduct: 
“Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry 
with yourselves that ye sold me hither; for 
God did send me before you to preserve life. 
God sent me before you to preserve you a 
posterity in the earth, and to save your lives 
by a great deliverance. So now it was not 
you sent me hither, but God.’’ Gen. xlv. 5, 7. 
Here Joseph ascribes his being brought to 
Egypt, in the most explicit language, to God. 
If his brethren had done nothing in this busi- 
ness, if he had been caught up and conveyed 
by miraculous power, through the air, his 
language could not be more plain and forcible. 
We cannot avoid the conclusion, that he was 
sent into Egypt according to the purposes of 
God; and yet his brethren were the agents in 


118 LETTERS ON 


sending him there. That they were not high- 
ly criminal in doing so, no man will pretend 
to affirm. Here, then, is a plain instance in 
which the designs of providence were accom- 
plished by the wicked actions of men, without 
the slightest approbation of God to their con- 
duct, or any excuse for their criminality. 

The cursing of Shimei against David was 
no doubt sinful; yet David will not permit 
his friends to revenge the insult. “ Let him 
curse, said the king, because the Lord hath 
said unto him, curse David; let him alone, 
and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden 
him.”? 2 Sam. xvi. 10, 11. David does not 
mean that the Lord approved of this cursing; 
but that it was a part of the affliction, appoint- 
ed for him, during this hour of banishment 
and sorrow. 

“ts The death of Jesus Christ is a remarkable 
Vinstance of this kind. None will deny that 
this event was fixed, was absolutely certain, 
in the counsels of infinite wisdom from all 
eternity. If ever the wisdom of Deity pro- 
posed an end worthy of a high and holy de- 
cree, it was this; that a Saviour should die. 
The first penitent sinner was pardoned and 
accepted of God, on the ground of this cer- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSR. 119 


tainty. Thousands and tens of thousands were 
accepted on the same ground. The atone- 
ment, except in the divine purpose, was not 
yet made; but sinners are forgiven, which 
they could not have been without an absolute 
certainty that the great sacrifice for sin, would, 
at the appointed time, be offered up. They 
could not have been forgiven on uncertainty. 
The slightest uncertainty attaching to this 
subject would have shaken, would have blast- 
ed for ever their hopes of acceptance, and have 
thrown them back to the gulf of despair. 
Every sin that was pardoned, necessarily im- 
plied the certainty of this event. The pardon 
of sinners previous to the death of Christ, 
furnishes a view of this certainty, perhaps, 
better adapted than the divine decree to our 
comprehension. The Jewish sacrifices pro- 
claimed the same truth. Every victim that 
bled at the altar pointed forward to the great 
antetype, one day to bleed for sin. The pro- 
phets announced to the world this merciful 
purpose of God. They dwell on the subject, 
in a variety of details which have more the 
appearance of history than of prophecy. They 
not only predict the death of the Saviour, but 
also the manner of that death. He was to die. 


120 LETTERS ON 


a violent death, under an unjust sentence, 
amidst the reproaches, calumnies, and deri- 
sionsof men. That his blood should be shed, 
was just as certain as that he should die. This 
death was, therefore, certain in the divine 
purpose; this certainty was made known to 
the world, through the pardon of sinners, the 
Jewish sacrifices, and the predictions of the 
prophets. The New Testament contains the 
narrative of all these events; of all that was 
foretold by the prophets, prefigured by the 
Jewish types, implied in the pardon of sinners, 
and determined in the counsels of heaven. 
This purpose was executed by men, by his 
own countrymen, by the Jews, who annually 
witnessed the sacrifices bleeding at their altar, 
who had in their possession the prophecies, 
and heard them: read every Sabbath-day. 
These were the men who, with malicious 
eyes, watched the conduct of the Saviour; 
who denied and rejected him; who extorted 
from Pilate, the sentence of his death; who 
purchased his blood; who apprehended and 
bound him; who nailed him to the cross, 
accompanying the whole with the most cruel 
abuse, insults, and mockeries. That in all this 
they accomplished the divine purpose, is, in 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 12] 


my view, undeniable; that in all. this they 
manifested a degree of wickedness, literally 
without a parallel, even in this guilty world, 
is also undeniable. 

That they fulfilled the divine purpose, is if 
I mistake not, affirmed in explicit terms in 
Seripture—* Him being delivered by the de- 
terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God: 
For of a truth against thy holy Child Jesus, 
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and 
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peo- 
ple of Israel, were gathered together, to do 
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel deter- 
mined before to be done.’? Acts ii. 23, and 
Iv. 27, 28, also Acts iii. 18, and xili. 27. Pas- 
sages boldly and directly charging the Jews 
with the most diabolical wickedness in cruci- 
fying the Lord of glory, are numerous, and 
need not be quoted, especially as this point is 
undisputed. In all that they did, they were 
moral agents, and were as much accountable 
for their conduct as if no divine purpose had 
existed; and yet they fulfilled this counsel 
with as great accuracy as if they had not been 
moral agents. They were influenced entirely 
by their own motives. Their consultations, 
their stratagems and their plans, are often 
1] 


122 LETTERS ON 


mentioned in the New Testament. I cannot, 
therefore, see how to avoid the conclusion, 
that the purpose of God is sometimes accom- 
plished by wicked men, without furnishing the 
least excuse for that wickedness; and is not 
inconsistent with their moral agency. 

If the purpose and providence of God have 
no control over the sinful thoughts, intentions, 
and conduct of men, then how great a portion 
of the human family are excluded from the 
wise and holy providence of Jehovah? All 
men are sinful by nature. In the judgment of 
Him who searcheth the heart, there is “none 
that doeth good; no, not one.’? Such have 
constituted a vast majority of the human race, 
in every past age of the world; at this day 
they are an overwhelming majority. This 
is the state and character of every pious man, 
till the moment of his conversion. When the 
finally impenitent transgressor shall stand be- 
fore his Judge, not one thought, intention or 
desire of his heart, nor one single action of his 
life, will be pronounced good: all will be con- 
demned as sinful and wicked. Those who 
advance the objection above to the doctrine for 
which I contend, cannot believe, if they will 
be consistent, that the wise and mighty Ruler 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 193 


of the universe can ever employ the agency of 
such men in the execution of his designs. He 
cannot employ their agency without control- 
ling, in some way or other, their thoughts, in- 
tentions and conduct. But these are all sinful; 
he cannot therefore cause his holy determina- 
tions to be answered by any thing that is sin- 
ful; for this, according to their opinion, would 
imply his approbation of that sin, and be incon- 
sistent with the moral agency of man. Hence, 
in their view, it is a fact, for which it behooves 
them to account, if they can, that none but sin- 
cerely pious men, and these only so far as they 
are pious, have ever been employed in pro- 
moting the dispensations of providence, or in 
executing the counsels of infinite wisdom, 
which is the same thing; and that no sinful 
man ever has, or ever will answer this purpose. 
Was Cyrus and his army; was Titus and his 
army, sincerely pious? The brethren who 
oppose us on this subject, must. either maintain 
that they were, or deny that they ever fulfilled 
the prophecies, or executed the counsel of God. 
If they will do neither of these, their objection 
has no weight, even in their own view; and 
they ought, for the sake of consistency, to ad- 
mit that the purposes of God are sometimes 


124 LETTERS ON 


answered by sinful men; and that these pur- 
poses are not inconsistent with moral agency. 

Affliction, we are told, ‘cometh not forth - 
of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of 
the ground.”’ Afflictions are uniformly con- 
sidered, in Scripture, as dispensations of Provi- 
dence, sent for our improvement; that we 
may be partakers of his holiness. “ They 
work together for good, to those who love 
God; they work out for us a far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory’? than we 
could ever attain without them. But some of 
the heaviest afflictions we are ever called to 
bear, are occasioned by the wickedness of 
men. <A pious father may witness the pro- 
fligacy of a graceless son, or be called to weep 
over his untimely. grave, to which he is 
brought by the hand of the duellist. An 
affectionate mother may have continually be- 
fore her eyes a daughter, disgraced and ruined 
by the infernal art of some vile seducer. These 
are sore afflictions; severe trials. Are they 
sent fer the good of those who are visited by 
them? Ought they to be improved in a 
religious manner? They were sent for good; 
and they ought to be improved. But who 
sent them? and who gave them a tendency 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 125 


to work for good, to produce the peaceful 
fruits of righteousness? Satan, if he had the 
power, has not the disposition to do any thing 
to promote the spiritual interest of men. 
Wicked men have neither the power nor 
disposition to do this. If they have a ten- 
dency to work for good, this must have been 
imparted to them by a being of infinite good- 
ness, who designed and sent them for this 
purpose. Without this tendency, it cannot 
be a duty to improve them. But it is a duty 
to improve these and all other afflictions; and, 
therefore, they do possess this tendency. If 
they possess it, they must have derived it 
from God; for none else could impart it to 
them. If they were designed and sent by 
him, then his providence must extend to the 
cause from which they spring: and his pur- 
pose and his providence are co-extensive and 
co-eternal. 

Hence we reach the same conclusion; that 
the purposes of God are not inconsistent with 
the moral agency of man; and that the control 
of his wise and holy providence is exercised 
over the wicked actions of men, without im-. 
plying his approbation of that wickedness, or 
furnishing for it the least shadow of excuse. 


126 LETTERS ON 


LETTER XI. 


THIS CONSISTENCY INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO US—-BUT SO ARE 
MANY OTHER THINGS WHICH YET WE BELIEVE, 


Prosasuxy before this time you are anxious to 
propose the question of Nicodemus—* How 
can these things be?”’ Could you receive the 
answer from Him who taught Nicodemus, it 
would, no doubt, be satisfactory. Without 
claiming, or desiring to be any thing but an 
humble disciple at the feet of that teacher, 
may I not reply, in his language, adapted to 
this case—Art thou a student of the Bible, of 
the character and government of God, and 
knowest not these things? Do you not read 
of many undoubted instances of the divine 
purpose being accomplished through the agen- 
cy of men, without in the least impairing or 
suspending their moral agency? If you find 
but even one such instance, this proves the 
fact and solves the difficulty. For if the de- 
terminations of God are consistent with the 
moral agency of man, in the case of one indi- 
vidual, they may be, and are consistent with 
the moral agency of all the human family. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 127 


That ‘Teacher has already given us all that he 
considered useful, and, therefore, all that is 
necessary, on the subject. This ought to 
satisfy every candid mind. When on earth, 
he never gratified the idle curiosity of any 
man; were he to converse again with men, 
he would act, no doubt, in the same manner. 
The power of human language may be utter- 
ly insufficient to convey, to our minds, definite 
ideas any further than to teach the fact. This, 
I conceive is done, both in the Bible, and in 
the providence of God. The use of words 
which convey no definite ideas, is altogether 
vain. Our minds may be far too limited to 
comprehend this consistency. The attempt, 
therefore, to make us comprehend it would be 
fruitless: and God makes no fruitless attempts. 
If our capacities were sufficiently enlarged to 
grasp the magnitude of this subject, we should 
cease to he men; or if the subject was brought 
down to the present limits of our capacities, 
then it would cease to be the subject which | 
itis. All that can be done is, to make us 
acquainted with so much, with such parts of 
the subject, as are comprehensible, and of 
course, useful to us. This, in my opinion, has 
been done. With this we ought to be satis- 


128 LETTERS ON 


fied; for this we ought to be grateful. That 
curiosity which pushes its inquiries further, 
is, in my opinion, of at least a suspicious cha- 
racter.» We are not satisfied with the informa- 
tion which God has given us, unless it were 
extended further than divine wisdom has 
deemed proper and useful for us. We will 
not admit the existence of facts, unless we can 
comprehend the consistency and harmony of 
these facts. We will not receive truths suited 
to our own comprehension, unless we can 
receive those suited to superior intelligences: 
that is, unless we are raised to a higher grade 
in the scale of being. We will not be con- 
tented and thankful that we are men; we must 
be angels. Well, suppose we were elevated 
to the rank of angels: there are perfections in 
the character of Deity which even they can- 
not comprehend. “Can they by searching 
find out God? Can they find out the Almighty 
to perfection??? The same curiosity might 
lead them to desire capacities sufficiently en- 
larged to comprehend these perfections; that 
is, tobe gods. If this curiosity were not gra- 
tified, they might be discontented; and all dis- 
content of this kind is rebellion against the 
Most High. Ifit be wrong in them to indulge 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 129 


this curiosity, it must, at least, be suspicious 
inus. If they ought to be thankful for what 
they can comprehend of the works and cha- 
racter of God, so ought we; if they ought to 
be thankful and contented that they are angels, 
so ought we, that we are men. 

I am far from charging with these conse- 
quences all who make this and similar inqui- 
ries; and because they do not receive answers, 
satisfactory to their view, reject the doctrine 
which I maintain: but I candidly think they 
have not duly considered the tendency of that 
eurlosity, or of that spirit, from which this 
inguiry proceeds. 

If, however, they will urge the inquiry; 
how can the purpose of God be consistent 
with the moral agency of men? I freely con- 
fess that I do not know: nor do I ever expect, 
in this life, to comprehend this subject. . Men 
of greater research, of greater talents, and of 
much greater piety than I possess, have left 
the world, making the same confession. The 
man, therefore, who can seriously make the 
inquiry, must wait for the. clearer light of 
futurity. 

There are many other subjects respecting 
which the same inquiry might be made, to 

12 


130 LETTERS ON 


which the same confession of ignorance could 
only be given. How did God create the 
world?) By his Almighty power, it might be 
answered. But should the inquirer renew the 
attack, and ask, how could divine power ope- 
rate, when there was nothing to operate on, 
nothing on which this power could terminate: 
I confess as freely as in the other case, I do 
not know. How can, or how does God gov- 
ern the world? I do not know. Shall we, 
therefore, refuse to believe that the world was 
created, and is governed by Jehovah: We 
may, it appears to me, just with the same con- 
sistency and truth with which we refuse to 
believe in the wise and holy purpose of God, 
according to which he created and governs the 
world. 

The love of Jesus Christ to guilty sinners, 
which surrounds the divine character with its 
brightest and mildest splendours, which ani- 
mate the universe with new joys and new 
glories, is perfectly incomprehensible to us. 
Its height we cannot reach; its depth we can- 
not fathom; its length and breadth we cannot 
grasp. Of this love it is said with perfect 
truth, that it passeth knowledge. Thanks 
to the Divine Saviour! his love is infinitely 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 13] 


greater than our comprehension. Shall we 
then ask how can this love exist; or how can 
it be exercised? and until we have this diffi- 
culty removed; until it is brought down to 
our capacity, or our capacity is enlarged to its 
dimensions, shall we hesitate to rejoice in it? 
Because this explanation cannot be given; or 
if given, cannot be comprehended by us; shall 
we refuse to believe the reality of this love; 
that. angels ever beheld and adored its exhibi- 
tion; that the heart of a sinner ever felt its 
life giving touch; shall we drive from our 
hearts the hopes which it inspires, and shut 
against ourselves the heaven to which it in- 
vites, and for which it prepares us? The man 
who would act thus would declare his own 
incorrigible wickedness, stamp his own cha- 
racter with the basest ingratitude, and fix on 
his own soul the seal of perdition. We have 
abundant evidence to support our belief in the 
reality and greatness of this love; yet this evi- 
dence does not render it comprehensible to us. 
The more we know of it, the more deeply are 
we convinced that it passeth our knowledge. 
Yet no man ever thought of alleging this as a 
reason why he would not receive and rejoice 
in it. Its greatness, on the contrary, is the 


132 LETTERS ON 


ground of his joys and his hopes. Why we 
should not feel and act, in the same manner, 
respecting other truths of the Bible, I cannot 
tell. 

That God is not the author of sin, I most 
firmly believe... Nothing in his character, in 
his word, or in his works, will justify such a 
belief. On the contrary, he declares that it is 
odious in his sight, and dangerous to us. As 
the righteous Governor of the universe he has 
most plainly, and positively, forbidden and 
condemned it; as our affectionate Father, he 
has warned us of its deceitful and ruinous ten- 
dency, and furnished us with the very strong- 
est inducements to avoid it. And yet, that 
this is a sinful world, is a melancholy fact, 
which none, or very few at least, have been 
disposed to question. That we are sinners, 1s 
a plain proof that we are subjects of the moral 
government of God: for sin is a transgression 
of those laws, by which we ought to be go- 
verned. In the Bible those laws are con- 
tained, which show us what we ought to be. 
But the Bible is adapted to us as sinners; 
miserable, helpless sinners. Therefore, in ad- 
dition to the moral law, it contains a revela- 
tion of mercy; a glorious plan of redemption, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 133 


through the atoning blood of a crucified Sa- 
viour. It contains all that is necessary for us 
to know, in order to escape the consequences 
of sin, and regain the favour of God. ‘That 
we are also under the government of divine 
providence is, in my opinion, as certain, as 
that we are under the moral government of 
God. That these two governments are per- 
fectly consistent with each other is evident; 
because they are both conducted by the same 
wise, good, and almighty Being, whose per- 
fections and designs perfectly harmonize. But 
although they are connected, and in harmony 
with each other, yet there is, in many respects, 
a difference. The government of providence 
is subservient to the moral government: the 
one is administered for the sake of the other, 
In proof of this it may be observed, that the 
laws of providence, or as, they are generally 
called, the laws of nature, have frequently 
been suspended to promote the designs of the 
moral government; but no instance occurs of 
a moral law being suspended, to promote the 
designs of providence. The life of man is 
preserved by providence, that he may, as a 
moral agent, enjoy and glorify God. They 
differ also in this; none but intelligent crea- 


134 LETTERS ON 


tures are subjects of the moral government; 
but all creatures, animate and inanimate, ra- 
tional and irrational, are subject to the control 
of providence. They differ also in this: the 
laws of the moral government, as far, at least, 
as we are concerned, are fully made known; 
but the laws by which the government of pro- 
vidence is conducted, never have been, except 
in a few instances, made known to man. The 
exceptions to which I refer, are those events 
which have been predicted by the prophets, 
or secured in the promises of God. In both 
cases the laws of providence, respecting the 
events to which they relate, were made known 
to man before they occurred. Respecting all 
other events, we have neo such certainty; “ we 
know not what will be on the morrow: 
“we know not what a day will bring forth.’’ 
In this difference both the wisdom and good- 
ness of God appear. It is all important that 
we should know the moral law, according to 
which, our eternal state is soon to be unalter- 
ably fixed; but a full and perfect knowledge 
of future events could do us no good; and in 
most cases would add to our misery. It is 
enough for us to know that a life of sin, of 
impenitence and unbelief, will lead to eternal 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 135 


misery and disgrace; that a life of holiness and 
faith in the Son of God, will conduct to hap- 
piness and glory. Whether our life is to be 
long or short, spent in sickness or in health, 
in affluence, or in indigence, we do not know: 
we may cheerfully leave the dispensatiens of 
providence to Him who worketh all things 
after the counsel of his own wisdom. The 
laws of providence being unknown to us, can- 
not, for this reason, be the rule of our conduct. 
There is no reward promised to those who 
fulfil these designs; nor any threatenings ut- 
fered against those who, if they could, would. 
disobey those laws, and frustrate these designs. 
Things inanimate, of course, incapable of re- 
wards or punishments, obey the will of God 
in the great work of providence. When the 
agency of man is employed, no reward is 
bestowed for this agency. In this respect 
man is like the hail, the snow, and the vapour. 
The only difference is, that man, being a 
rational creature, of course a moral agent, the 
wisdom of God has to secure his instrumenta- 
lity, without impairing or suspending this rea- 
son, or this moral agency. ‘To accomplish 
this with certainty, and to any considerable 
degree, would be difficult and even impossible 


136 LETTERS ON 


to man. And yet something like it is often 
attempted, and in some degree effected, by 
judicious and affectionate parents, in the ma- 
nagement of their children; withcut positive 
restraint or coercion, by observing their dis- 
position, by skilful arrangements, children are 
often induced to act that part which is agree- 
able to the will of their parent. In such in- 
stances, children are not sensible of the influ- 
ence of parental authority; to themselves they 
appear to act, and in fact do act, according toe 
their own choice; when it is certain that with- 
out this parental influence, they would have 
acted a different part. Now, that which pa- 
rents can effect, in some degree in their chil- 
dren, we think is neither impossible or even 
dificult for the wisdom of God to effect in 
men, with absolute certainty, and in any de- 
gree which the designs of his providence may 
require. He who formed the rational soul, 
knows how to reach and influence that soul, 
without destroying its rationality, and without 
ts being sensible of that influence; and yet 
without this it would have thought, and de- 
signed, and acted differently. ‘That this was 
the case with Cyrus, is undeniable; and I 
repeat, what has been effected in one indivi- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 137 


dual may be, and no doubt is, effected in all 
others. } 

The great laws of the moral government are 
all certain, fixed, and immutable. They are, 
with propriety, said to be a transcript of the 
moral perfections of the Lawgiver. Man, 
whose knowledge is very limited, and who 
may become wiser by experience, may, and 
ought to change his laws when he discovers 
their imperfection: but the wisdom and good- 
ness of God are no greater now than they 
were from the beginning. The conduct of 
his moral subjects has not taught him to make 
the slightest change. It was from all eter- 
nity, immutably certain, that sin of every kind 
and degree would be condemned; and that 
holiness would be approved. The finally 
impenitent transgressor has no more reason to 
expect that he will escape the righteous judg- 
ments of God, nor the sincere penitent any 
more reason to fear that his hopes will be dis- 
appointed, than that the divine perfections 
will change. These laws are the wise and 
holy decrees, according to which the great 
Sovereign will express his approbation and 
condemnation, and distribute rewards and 


138 LETTERS ON 


punishments:to his moral subjects. If these 
laws are thus certain and immutable, shall we 
not conclude that the laws of providence are 
equally. so? The providence of God is sub- 
servient to his moral designs; the one is the 
end, the other is, in part, the means. Is all 
that relates to the end unalterably fixed, and 
yet the means for the accomplishment of that 
end left vague, uncertain, and mutable? As 
the events of providence take place, or ap- 
proach their birth, does he receive new ideas? 
does he become wiser, and therefore more 
competent to decide what will be expedient 
in future? Before he determines the events 
of one century, year, er day, does he wait to 
observe the success of his plans during the 
century, year, or day immediately preceding? 
Is he merely making experiments for his own 
improvement in wisdom, to ascertain the best 
manner of conducting his providence? In 
short, is he a man? or is he the Allwise and 
Almighty God? If he is God, and not man, 
who manages the vast concerns of providence, 
then the laws of that providence, equally with 
those of the moral government, are eternal, 
fixed, and immutable. These laws are the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 139 


wise and holy decrees, according to which all 
events, without one single mistake or failure, 
ever have been, and ever will be regulated. 


LETTER XII. 


MORAL GOVERNMENT.—SALVATION BY GRACE, 


A FEw remarks will now be offered respect- 
ing the moral government of God; or rather 
respecting the redemption of man through a 
divine Saviour; the renovation of his heart: 
his restoration to the favour of God; and his 
preparation for eternal glory. May the Holy 
Spirit enlighten and assist both the writer and 
the reader! 

“ By grace ye are saved,’’ may be the basis 
of these remarks. Grace, in this passage, 
means the free, unmerited favour of God. 
Salvation is an unmerited favour. Not one of 
the human race either does, or can deserve it; 
nor can they, by all that they can do, or suf- 
fer, have the shadow of a claim to it. If they 
could, it would then be merited; if merited it 
_would be a just debt; and if a debt, it could be 
no more grace; and if not of grace, then the 


140 LETTERS ON 


passage just quoted, together with many others, 
should be stricken from the sacred pages. . If 
it were a debt, then the sinner need no longer 
assume the attitude of a humble suppliant, 
humbly begging for salvation as a favour; he 
might approach his Judge with all the confi- 
dence of a claimant, and boldly demand what 
was his right; he need no longer apply to the 
mercy of God, but to his justice. If it were a 
debt, or deserved, then God is bound to pay 
it; for “the Judge of all the earth will do 
right;”’? then it would be no longer free, but 
the result of obligation. He who brings an- 
other under obligation, must confer some 
favour, or in some way or other, be profitable 
to him who is laid under obligation: but what 
favour can a sinner bestow; in what way ean 
he be profitable to his Maker? He who 
induces another to act differently from what 
was intended, must present reasons of greater 
wisdom, and greater weight, than those pos- 
sessed by him whose intention is changed: 
who then can induce the Almighty to act dif- 
ferently from his own free and sovereign 
pleasure? The truth is, which we shall soon 
feel and acknowledge, in the sincere penitence 
of our hearts, or in the anguish and despair of 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 141 


our eternal existence, that so far from deserv- 
ing salvation, we deserve the righteous indig- 
nation of God, just in proportion to our guilt: 
for “the wages of sin is death.”” “Every sin 
deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this 
world and that which is to come.’? Now, as 
we have all sinned, we all deserve to perish. 
This is the miserable and helpless state in 
which all mankind are by nature. Were it 
otherwise, we should not need a Saviour; sal- 
vation, in the evangelical sense, would be 
impossible. Eivery sin, therefore, that is for- 
given, must be forgiven through grace; every 
sinner that is saved, must be saved by grace: 
not one of them does or can deserve it. 

Of the same import is another declaration 
of the apostle Paul: «Eternal life is the gift 
of God.”” The disciples of Christ are now in 
possession of this gift; for “he who believeth 
on the Son hath everlasting life.”? Therefore 
this gift includes every thing pertaining to our 
salvation, the means and the agency by which 
we are united to Christ, and reconciled to 
God; the character, the dispositions and affee- 
tions, and all the qualifications which fit us for 
the service of God here, and for the enjoy- 
ment of him hereafter—all are the gift of 


142 LETTERS ON 


God. Accordingly we find from Scripture 
that all these things, in detail, are explicitly 
ascribed to God as his gift. The Saviour him- 
self is the gift of God; and in him are includ- 
ed all things else necessary to salvation. The 
Holy Spirit, including all his influences, is 
given of God, to those who ask him. ‘The 
Bible itself, with all its threatenings, admoni- 
tions, and warnings; with all its promises and 
invitations, its doctrines and _ precepts, its 
examples of obedience and rebellion, of holi- 
ness and sin; by which we are enlightened, 
impressed, and governed; by which we are 
wounded and healed, alarmed and comfort- 
ed—the Bible is the gift of God to an igno- 
rant, sinful, and perishing world. The holy 
Sabbath, so conducive to the existence and 
progress of vital godliness, is the ordinance of 
heaven. Public worship, family and private 
devotion, are institutions of infinite wisdom, 
for the perfecting of his saints. Prayer is not 
only an important duty, but a precious privi- 
lege, granted to us by the Father of mercies 
Are we convinced of sin? it is by the Spirit, 
the Comforter, who is the gift of God; it is 
by the law which God has given us. Are we 
enabled to exercise faith in Christ? that faith 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 143 


is a divine gift. Do we love God? that love 
‘is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Spirit, who is given unto us. Do we sincere- 
ly repent? that repentance is given by our 
exalted Prince and Saviour. Are we pardon- 
ed and accepted of God? that righteousness, 
on account of which we are accepted, is a gift. 
Are we adopted into the family of heaven? 
that spirit of adoption we have received. Do 
we enjoy peace? that peace is the legacy of 
Christ. Have we good hope? it is given us 
through grace. Do we gain the victory? 
thanks be unto God, who giveth us the vie- 
tory. All the means of grace, as they are 
generally called, together with all the effects 
which these means are made instrumental in 
producing on our hearts, and on our lives, are 
distinctly ascribed to God as his gift. 
Gratitude is a sentiment awakened in the 
mind by the reception of favours which we 
esteem valuable, and which we do not deserve. 
Unless some favour is received, or expected, 
the human heart cannot feel grateful. Grati- 
tude cannot be called into exercise by a mere 
act of volition, as we can raise our hand; it 
must have its appropriate cause. According- 
ly, wherever you witness a heart expanding 


144 LETTERS ON 


with its delightful emotions, you may be sure 
some valuable favour is either expected, or 
has been received. Now where is the Chris- 
tian who does not feel thankful to God for 
causing him to differ from others; for those 
convictions of guilt and danger which led him 
to inquire what he must do to be saved; for 
that heavenly light which guided him safely 
through his perplexities and distresses, and 
taught him how to believe; for that gracious 
aid, by which he was enabled, guilty, helpless 
and polluted as he was, to cast himself on the 
merits of Jesus Christ; for that joy and peace 
which he found in believing; for that new 
heart which habitually inclines him to repent 
of sin, to abhor himself on account of it, to 
watch against and avoid it; for that relish for 
spiritual things, by which he is enabled to 
delight in communion with God, and in cheer- 
ful obedience to his will? Who is not thank- 
ful for those spiritual and devout affections 
which adorn the character, give the thoughts 
an heavenly direction, warm, elevate, and 
purify the soul; for that power by which he 
is kept through faith unto salvation? The 
man who is not thankful for these blessings 
proclaims his own ignorance of them, and 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 145 


proves himself unworthy the name of Chris- 
tian. The grateful heart believes and acknow- 
ledges that all these are good and perfect gifts 
from the Father of lights. 

All the blessings for which we are directed 
and permitted to pray, are bestowed accord- 
ing to the good pleasure of God. The very 
petitions which we offer up, imply that we 
have no right to claim them; and that when 
received, they must be received as free and 
unmerited favours. Careless sinners should 
pray that they might be impressed and awaken- 
ed; the awakened should pray that they might 
be preserved from all the errors and delusions 
which beset their path, and enabled to believe 
in Christ with a heart unto righteousness; 
Christians should pray for a clean heart and a 
right spirit, for strength to persevere and 
increase in the ways of holiness; or rather, 
every person should pray without ceasing, for 
these and all other blessings. Now prayer 
has no meaning, it is mockery, unless it flows 
from a deep and thorough conviction that we 
do not possess that for which we pray; that 
we need it; and that we do not deserve it. I 
can conceive of no motive to pray for that 

13 


146 LETTERS ON 


which we already possess, or that which we 
do not need, or that which we deserve; for 
this we would not ask as a suppliant; we 
would. demand it as our right. If we pray 
with the understanding, we know and feel at 
the moment, that we do not merit the bless- 
ings for which we pray, that God is under no 
obligation, of course, to bestow them. Was 
this conviction more deeply wrought in our 
hearts, our prayers would be mingled with 
more reverence, more humility, and more 
earnestness than they sometimes are. When 
God bestows the blessing, it is not as the pay- 
ment of a debt, or a compensation for services 
which we have rendered, but freely and gra- 
ciously. 

These remarks are forcibly and affectingly 
exemplified in the case of the publican. His 
consciousness of misery, guilt, and unwor- 
thiness are clearly indicated by the distance at 
which he stands; by his downeast eye; and 
by smiting on his breast. He mentions no 
debt that is due him; no services, on account 
of which he ought to be heard, and rewarded. 
He confesses himself to be a sinner. Know- 
ing that mercy was his only plea, though even 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 147 


this he did not deserve, with reverence, humi- 
lity, and earnestness, he prays—G'od be mer- 
ciful to me a sinner! 

Again; the whole work of regenerating and - 
purifying the heart of man, from the first 
quickening touch, through every intervening 
stage of its progress, to the most triumphant 
assurance of faith, ever attained in this world, 
is directly ascribed to God, as his peculiar 
work. When “dead in trespasses and in sins; 
when children of wrath, it is God who quick- 
eneth us.’”’ From the context it would appear 
that this quickening marks the first impres- 
sion which changes the heart from a state of 
death-like insensibility, to serious reflection 
and feeling. Of the same import is the lan- 
guage of the Apostle James; “ Of his own will 
begat he us with the word of truth.’ Regen- 
eration, with all that it implies, is ascribed to 
God; we are his workmanship. Those who 
believe in Christ, are Lorn of God. Those 
who are called, are called of God. It is 
“God who works in the hearts of his people 
the work of faith with power; who makes a 
way for their escape when tempted; who com- 
forts, strengthens, and upholds them. If they 
work out their own salvation “it is God, of 


148 LETTERS ON 


his good pleasure, who worketh in them, both 
to will and to do.’’? Other passages to the 
same effect, need not be mentioned; for no 
Christian, I presume, is disposed to deny that 
all that is good, in the heart of man, is the 
work of the Spirit. 

Let me ask you now, are these things so? 
Are we, indeed, saved by grace? Is our salva- 
tion, with all that it includes, a free, unmerited 
favour? Is our regeneration, and progress in 
holiness, from the first serious thought, to the 
Jast exercise of faith in this world, the peculiar 
work of the Spirit? I cannot deny myself the 
pleasure of believing that you reply in the 
affirmative. You not only admit that these 
things may be true, as you would admit 
respecting things with which you were not 
acquainted, or which you had not carefully 
examined; but on the testimony of your own 
experience, and of the word of God, exainined 
with prayerful attention, you affirm that they 
are true. Then, my friend, you are a genuine 
Calvinist. This is the very essence of that 
system of doctrines called, sometimes by its 
advocates, and sometimes by its opponents, 
Calvinism. It isa matter of little importance, 
however, by what name any system of doc- 


> 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 149 


trine is called; if it is according to Scripture, 
it ought to be received; if it is not, it ought to 
be rejected. It ought to be neither defended 
nor opposed merely on account of the name 
which men have given it; but solely on ac- 
_ count of its truth or its falsehood. Had this 
been kept habitually in view, half the disputes 
in the religious world would never have taken 
place; and the greater part of the other half 
would have been much shorter, been con- 
ducted with more meekness of wisdom, of 
course, been more profitable than they have 
been, By those who keep this rule in view, 
the Bible, understood in its plain and obvious 
meaning, is revered as the highest authority; 
as the only infallible guide. They imitate 
the noble Bereans, f searching the Scriptures 
daily, whether nee things are so;” if so, if 
found in the Scriptures, they are ‘received 
with all readiness of mind.’’ 

However, as I have mentioned the conclu- 
sion which, in my opinion, follows unavoid- 
ably from the above premises, I will give you 
permission, and even request you to review 
this letter, with great attention, and with a 
reference, if you please to this very conclu- 
sion. What the result of such a review may 


150 LETTERS ON 


be on your mind, I cannot tell; on my own 
mind it only strengthens the conviction that 
the preceding statements are abundantly sup- 
ported by Scripture; that they are the plain 
doctrines of the Bible. Until I know to the 
contrary, 1 will suppose this is also your 
deliberate conviction. Then I repeat it, you 
are a Calvinist; you believe as they do. 


LETTER XIII. 


THE FAVOURS OF GOD, BESTOWED ACCORDING TO HIS OWN 
DESIGN.—-PURPOSE, DECREE, INTENTION, FORE-ORDINATION, 
&c., MEAN THE SAME, 


PERHAPS you are not quite satisfied to be 
called a Calvinist ; and do not feel altogether 
certain that you are justly entitled to this dis- 
tinctive appellation. It is not my wish to 
induce you to adopt this, or any similar name; 
my heart’s desire and prayer to God, for you 
and for all men, is, that you may be saved; 
and in order to this, that you may clearly 
understand, and cordially embrace the truth, 
as it is in Jesus. Of one thing, however, I 
am certain; if you believe, as above supposed, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 15] 


you are as justly entitled to this appellation 
as I am, and as thousands of others are, to 
whom it is uniformly applied. 

The salvation of sinners is the unmerited 
favour, the gracious gift of God. When he - 
bestows this gift, he either has an intention, a 
design to bestow it, or he has not. If he has 
no intention, then the bestowment of it must 
be what we call accidental. The efforts of 
man are frequently producing effects in this 
way; that is, accidentally. His efforts are 
intended to produce different effects; these 
which are produced are neither foreseen nor 
intended by him. That the salvation of a sin- 
ner should be an eccidental effect of the divine 
operations; that while he was aiming to ac- 
complish some other purpose, say, the crea- 
tion of an angel, this took place unexpectedly 
to him, is plainly too absurd to charge on any 
man. Nor can I admit that the man or angel 
ever existed, who could believe this respecting 
his Maker. If he has en intention, then the 
gift is bestowed according to this purpose, and 
in consequence of it. The very reason why 
the gift is conferred is the existence of this 
design. The intention is neither capricious 
nor arbitrary. It is not like what, in men, is 


152 LETTERS ON 


called a mere fancy: it is deliberate; it is 
wise; it is holy. It is not formed and exe- 
cuted merely because he possesses the requisite 
power, and is not accountable to any creature 
for the exercise of that power. There is an 
end in view; an end infinitely worthy of his 
own character; an end which will justify this 
exercise of his power, wisdom, and goodness, 
in the view of all holy beings, This intention 
is according to the counsels of infinite wisdom; 
it is founded on reasons of infinite weight. It 
must, therefore, have been formed as soon as 
all the reasons, on which it is founded, were 
perceived and felt by the divine mind; as 
soon as the counsels, the deliberations of wis- 
dom were concluded. Any other inference is 
altogether unreasonable. But this wisdom is 
not increased by experience, nor are these 
reasons discovered by investigation. This 
was perfect; these reasons existed from all 
eternity, with precisely the same weight 
which they now have. Therefore this inten- 
tion existed from all eternity. The bestow- 
ment of this gift, of this divine life, is in con- 
sequence of an immutable, wise, benevolent, 
merciful, and eternal intention. All this, it 
appears to me, is plain and undeniable. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 153 


Now this intention is the decree of God. 
To say that God intended, and that he decreed, 
from all eternity, to bestow a favour, is, in my 
view, the same thing. It is the same also 
with foreordination. This means the deter- 
mining to bestow a gift before the time arrives, 
when the gift is actually bestowed. This term 
is used in accommodation to our weakness; 
for with God there is neither fore nor after 
ordination. What we call past, present, and 
future, are equally present to his infinite mind. 
The word election means substantially the 
same thing. At first view, it may appear 
more forcibly to suggest to our mind, in con- 
nexion with the intention, an idea either of the 
gift, or the person on whom it is conferred. 
This, however, is more owing to our inatten- 
tion, than to any real difference in the mean- 
ing of these terms. If God intends to bestow 
a gift, that gift must as certainly be in his: 
intention as the bestowment of it; and the 
person on whom it is to be conferred, as cer- 
tainly as the gift and its bestowment. To say 
that a thing is intended, purposed, or design- 
ed by the Almighty, is the same thing as to 
say, that it is decreed, or foreordained. To 
say that God intends to confer a favour on 

14 


154 LETTERS ON 


any particular persons, is the same as to say, 
that this person is elected for that purpose. 
Of course, to say that there is neither decree 
nor foreordination of God, is the same as to 
say, that he has no intention; and that the 
gifts which he bestows, are given without in- 
tention. To say that there is nothing decreed 
or foreordained, is the same as to say, that he 
never intended to do any thing. To say that 
no person was ever elected, is the same as to 
say, that Ged never intended any person to 
receive his gift. The same remarks are true 
respecting the terms, predestination, predesti- 
nate, and predestinated; they mean the inten- 
tion of God to bestow a favour, or to bring an 
event to pass: the favour bestowed, and the 
person on whom it is conferred, are predesti- 
nated for these purposes. 

Any person who reads the Bible with at- 
tention, may easily perceive that the above 
terms mean the same thing, when applied to 
God and his designs. In proof of this, permit 
me to refer you to a few words, in the origi- 
nal of the New Testament:—Bovay, according 
to Parkhurst, signifies design, purpose, decree, 
counsel. Luke vii. 30; “The Pharisees and 
lawyers rejected the counsel (qv Bovanv) of 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 155 


God against themselves.” Acts ii. 23; “Him, 
being delivered by the determinate counsel 
(Sovry) and foreknowledge of God,”? &c. Bov- 
rower signifies, to will, to design, to will with 
authority, to decree, to ordain; Acts xii. 4; 
“intending (Sovropevos) after Easter,” &c. 
1 Cor. xii. 11; “the Spirit dividing to every 
man severally as he will (xadas Bovrerar,”’) 
Jas. 1. 18; “of his own will (Bovreders) begat 
he us,” &c.  Aoyua, derived from Aoxew, to 
think, judge, to think proper, to determine— 
signifies a decree, ordinance, whether human 
or divine. It means the ordinance of the cere- 
monial law, as in Eph. ii. 5; Col. ii. 14; also 
the decree of Cesar, Luke ii. 1, and Acts 
Xvil. 7; also the decrees ordained by the 
Apostles and Elders, Acts xvi. 4; we are told, 
Acts xil. 4, that Herod having apprehended 
Peter, put him in prison, ‘intending (Sov- 
aouevos) alter Kaster to bring him forth to the 
people.” Acts v. 28; “Behold,” said the 
high priest to the Apostles, “ye have filled 
Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend 
(Sovaeede) to bring this man’s blood upon us.”? 
The word used in both these passages, to 
express the intention of man,*is the same 
which is used respecting the Spirit, in the dis- 


156 LETTERS ON 


tribution of his gifts. 1 Cor. xii. 11; “divi- 
ding to every man severally as he will (Sov- 
aerav’’) translated by M‘Knight and Thomp- 
son, “as he pleaseth.”” Or with equal pro- 
priety it might be rendered, “as he intends, 
purposes, or decrees;’’ that is, according to 
his own intention or decree. Jamesi. 18; a 
participle of the same verb is applied to God: 
“ Of his own will (Govazdecs) begat he us with 
the word of truth.’ M‘Knight renders it 
thus; “Having willed it, he hath begotten _ 
us,’ &c. that is, having intended, decreed or 
designed it; either of which would convey 
the same idea. Dr. M‘Knight’s note on these 
words, is worthy of remark: “ The regene- 
ration of men is not a necessary act in God, 
but proceeds from his own free will. All the 
actions of God are perfectly free.”? This will, 
this pleasure of God, according to which his 
own favours are bestowed, and his own works 
are performed, is not expressed in the common 
translation, by the term intention, or design; 
but the same word as we have seen, in the 
original, respecting the will of man, translated 
intending and zntend, is applied to the Spirit, 
and to God. . The word decree is not so often 
used with ‘this view as some others. The 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. [59 


terms counsel, purpose, and ordinance are 
those mast frequently used to express the will 
or purpose of Jehovah. Psalm xxxili. 11; 
“The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever.’” 
The same meaning would be conveyed if the 
word zntention or design was used for coun- 
sel. Isa. xlvi. 10; ‘‘ My counsel shall stand, 
and I will do all my pleasure.” My design 
or my decree shall stand, conveys the same 
idea. Acts xx. 27; “For I have not shunned 
to declare unto you the whcle counsel of God.” 
The Apostle means that he had faithfully ex- 
plained all the great and immutable principles 
of the Gospel, the whole gracious plan of 
redemption through a divine Saviour. The 
same term is employed to express the result 
of those deliberations in which men are often 
engaged. Jer. li. 29; ‘“‘ Every purpose of the 
Lord shall be performed against Babylon.’’ 
We have already seen with what accuracy 
this intention, this decree of God was accom- 
plished in the destruction of Babylon. 1 Tim. 
1.9; “ Who hath saved us, and called us, ac- 
cording to his own purpose and grace.”? “ In 
accomplishment of his own purpose and gift.”? 
The sense would be the same if the word 
intention or design, were used, instead of 
purpose. 


L58 LETTERS ON 


The terms predestinate, predestinated, and 
predestination, are peculiarly objectionable to 
many pious people. I say the terms; for | 
hope they do not object to the meaning of 
these terms, when expressed in other words. 
Predestinate and predestinated are both used 
in Scripture, though predestination is not. It 
is, however, a word of creditable parentage, 
being as regularly derived from its verb, to 
predestinate, as intention is from the verb, to 
intend. If these words were correctly under- 
stood, they would cease to excite those unplea- 
sant feelings with which, in some minds, they 
are uniformly associated. Permit me to intro- 
duce them to your acquaintance, not in the 
garb which prejudice has lent them, but in 
that plain and dignified dress which they wear 
in the sacred volume. ‘The passages in which 
the word is used, are but few. Romans vii. 
29, 30; “ For whom he did foreknow, he also 
did predestinate to be conformed to the image 
of his Son. Moreover, whom he did predes- 
tinate, them he also called,’ &c. Eph. 1. 5; 
“ Having predestinated us to the adoption of 
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according 
to the good pleasure of his will.” Verse 11; 
‘In whom also we have obtained an inheri- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 159 


tance, being predestinated according to the 
pleasure of him who worketh all things after 
the counsel of his own will.”? The word trans- 
lated predestinate, is, in the original xpoopifa. 
This verb is compounded of xpo, which signi- 
fies before; and opcG, which signifies to bound, 
limit, to determine, decree, appoint. There- 
fore xpooptSw, signifies to determine, appoint, 
or decree any thing before hand; that is, be- 
fore it comes to pass, or, as our translators 
believed, to predestinate. This translation is 
retained also by Dr. M‘Knight. That the word, 
in the passages just quoted, is used in connex- 
ion with the great subject of man’s redemption, 
is unquestionable. Those whom God predes- 
tinated he predestinated to be. conformed to 
the image of his Son: that is, that they should 
resemble the divine Saviour in their moral 
character; in opposition and hatred to sin; in 
love to God and man; in faith, zeal, and self- 
denial, meekness, humility, heavenly minded- 
ness, devotion, and holiness. The grand object 
of this predestination is, that sinners should be 
regenerated, made holy, and enjoy everlasting 
happiness. ‘That they might attain this con- 
formity, he also called them; that is, by the 
preaching of the gospel, which the Holy Spirit 


160 LETTERS ON 


rendered effectual in “ turning them from dark- 
ness to light, that they might be sanctified 
through the truth.””? In Ephesians, the object 
of predestination is substantially the same; 
“To the adoption of sons.””? ‘Those who bear 
the image of Christ, are children of God, and 
those are children of God, who bear the image 
of their Saviour. In the latter passages we 
are informed that this is in consequence of the 
mediation of Christ, “ by Jesus Christ.” We 
have also the origin of the whole gracious plan, 
stated for our contemplation. It is “according 
to the good pleasure of his will.” 

In all this can see nothing objectionable. 
None will deem it objectionable that sinners 
should be saved; for it is a work in all res- 
pects worthy of God. Satan, indeed, with all 
his malice, subtlety, and power, is opposed te 
this work; but all the holy angels rejoice tn it, 
and labour to promote it. If sinners are to 
be saved, in what manner shall this be done? 
Can it be objectionable that in order to their 
admisston to heaven, they should first be 
made holy; that their hearts should be so 
completely changed as to resemble the lovely 
and heavenly character of Jesus, the Son of 
God; that they should be adopted into the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 161 


family of their Father in heaven, and trained 
up in the exercise of every filial affection, in 
habits of humble submission, and cheerful obe- 
dience to the divine will? If they are to be 
made holy, by what means is this holiness to 
_ be produced? Can there be any objection 
to the Gospel, as the means of this happy 
change? Never were means better adapted to 
an end, than the Gospel is to this. By the 
word of truth they are begotten, born again, 
sanctified, saved. By the Gospel they are 
called, warned, impressed, invited, enlighten- 
ed, comforted, animated, governed. The Gos- 
pel is the “ wisdom of God,” and the “ power 
of God unto salvation to every one who 
believeth.””, Through whose friendship shall 
these means be provided; this “ way of holi- 
ness’? be marked out; this access to the Father 
be opened for sinners? Can there be any 
objection to the mediation of Christ? Before 
we object, let us see that our objections be 
well founded. Let us first be convinced that 
he neglects his disciples; that his ear is too 
heavy to hear their cries, his arm too short to 
deliver them, his righteousness too scanty to 
cover them, his blood without virtue to cleanse 
them. If no deficiency can be discovered, 


162 LETTERS ON 


then, no objection can be made to his media- 
tion. He was chosen of God to bring many 
sons unto glory.. With whom is this plan to 
originate, that it may be unobjectionable to 
us? Would we be better pleased if it were a 
plan of our own devising? We are, indeed, 
generally fond of our own opinions, and the 
productions of-our own efforts. But are we, 
with the angels for our assistants, competent 
to this task? Could we grasp the mighty sub- 
ject? Could we arrange in all its parts and its 
provisions, a system which is to embrace the 
world, to purify and govern the sinful, pol- 
luted heart of man, to triumph over Satan, to 
save the soul, reconcile the pardon of sin with 
the rights of the divine government, kindle in 
heaven its brightest glories, diffuse through 
the universe the sublimest joy, and operate 
through an endless duration? If we could not 
devise such a plan, let us thankfully receive 
it from the wisdom of Him who alone could 
be the author of it. If he is its author, then 
the whole plan must be according to his own 
pleasure. It cannot possibly have any other 
origin. It is ascheme of his own wisdom, 
goodness, and mercy. It is, therefore, free, 
in the strictest sense. As he alone could 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 163 


devise this plan, so he alone can execute it. 
Men and angels are as absolutely unable to 
accomplish this merciful design as they are to 
devise it. If it is accomplished, it must be 
done by divine power. If sinners are saved, 
they must be saved by grace. The whole, 
from first to last, is according to his good plea- 
sure, to the counsel of his will. If he saves 
sinners, it must be according to his own inten- 
tion or according to the intention of others, or 
it must be without intention. The absurdity 
of this last supposition we have already seen. 
It is equally absurd to suppose that in saving 
sinners he works according to the plan, the 
intention or pleasure of others, who of course, 
must be his creatures, and who can exercise 
no wisdom but what he was pleased to give 
them. There is no escaping therefore, from 
the conclusion that in the salvation of sinners, 
he works according to his own design; and 
that this design existed from all eternity. 
This is the predestination of the New Testa- 
ment. ternal life is the gift of God. He 
could not bestow this gift without an inten- 
tion to do so. If such was his intention, he 
must also have intended some person or per- 
sons to receive this gift. Now, as far as I can 


164 LETTERS ON 


see, it will convey precisely the same idea, to 
say that these persons were destinaéed to this 
end. The verb, to destinate, according to Dr. 
Johnson,-signifies to design for any particular 
end. And if the destination of these persons 
existed in the divine mind, before they receiv- 
ed this gift, as it most unquestionably did; 
then no word in the English language can 
express more clearly that act of God, by 
which they were marked out, than the word, 
predestinate. Like the word in the original, 
of which this is a correct translation, it is 
compounded of pre, which, though not used 
separately in our language, signifies, before— 
generally adding to the word to which it is 
prefixed the idea of priority of time, and des- 
tinate, which is to design to a particular end. 
Predestinate, therefore, signifies to design 
before hand, any person or thing to a particu- 
lar end. Can we suppose that the intention to 
bestow eternal life, was fixed in the divine 
mind from all eternity, but that the persons 
who were to receive this gift were left un- 
determined, till the very moment when the 
gift was bestowed? Could his wisdom or 
knowledge be greater at that moment than 
they were before? If not, he could be no 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 165 


better qualified to make the most proper deter- 
mination, than he was before; of course, he 
could have no reasons for doing it, at this 
moment, which were not present to his mind 
before the foundation of the world. And nei- 
ther men nor angels can conceive a motive 
for delaying this determination after all the 
reasons on which it is founded are fully pos- 
sessed. 

Such are my views of truth, clearly taught 
in the Bible, respecting the salvation of sin- 
ners. All who believe that God bestows his 
favours in consequence of an intention, previ- 
ously existing in his mind; and that this 
intention embraces not only the gifts bestow- 
ed, but also the persons on whom they are 
conferred, are Predestinarians and Calvinists. 
Those who deny the doctrine of predestina- 
tion, of course, deny, in my opinion, that God 
ever bestowed any favours on the human race; 
or affirm that, if he has conferred any favours, 
he has done it without an intention of doing - 
so. ‘To say that God has bestowed no favours, 
is to deny that any of the human race have 
been, or will be saved; for if saved, it must 
be by grace, which is unmerited favour. To 
say that this grace is given without design, is 


166 LETTERS ON 


to say that when God saves sinners, he does 
not intend to do it; of course, it must be, what 
is generally called, accidental. From such a 
work, effected without design, could he either 
expect or derive glory, honour, and praise? / 
But the Lord Jesus Christ did not come into 
this world, did not suffer and die, did not rise 
from the dead and ascend to heaven; the Holy 
Spirit does not enlighten, impress and change 
the heart; the Bible was not given and is not 
preserved; God does not pardon, preserve, 
and glorify his people—by accident. The 
whole is from design; and that design is eter- 
nal. 


LETTER XIV. 


THE NUMBER TO BE SAVED DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON THE WILL 
OF GOD. 
Ler me, for the sake of further illustration, 
suppose that the whole human race consisted 
of one thousand individuals. They are all 
sinners against God; are under sentence of 
condemnation, and deserve to perish. They 
are naturally and strongly inclined to sin; 
their hearts being governed by an active 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 167 


opposition to the moral character and govern- 
ment of God, which prompts them to trans- 
gress his law. According to their view, the 
law of God is contrary to their interest ; 
because it forbids those pleasures which they 
Jove, and are endeavouring to enjoy. They 
delight in those things which this law con- 
demns, and hate those which it enjoins. They 
therefore hate, not only this law itself, but also 
the government to which it belongs, and the 
perfections of God from which it flows. They 
desire not the knowledge of his ways; they 
forget and rebel against him habitually. This 
is their nature, their employment, and their 
delight. Now, to my mind, it is as clear as 
mathematical demonstration, that the scheme 
of redemption never could have originated 
with them; not only because they are utterly 
incapable of devising the plan, but also because 
they are utterly and decidedly opposed to it. 
The very thing from which the gospel pro- 
poses to save them, is the very thing which 
they love; of course, if they could, they 
would not devise any means of deliverance 
from it. In proportion to their love of sin, 
which is very sincere, they will object to such 
a plan being devised and brought into opera- 


168 LETTERS ON 


tion by another. It is undeniable, therefore, 
that if they are saved, the plan must originate 
with God. But he cannot be under any 
obligation to devise this plan; it must, there- 
fore, be free; all the motives leading to it, 
and all the reasons on which it is founded, 
must exist in his own nature. Unless it is 
according to his own pleasure, it cannot be at 
all. Whether he will save or destroy them, 
depends solely on his own decision; no crea- 
ture has a right to interfere. They deserve 
every one of them to he consigned to-endless 
misery. Thanks be to his holy name, he has 
decided in favour of mercy and salvation. 
His wisdom has devised a plan which will 
bring more glory to his name than all his 
other works. All that pertains to this plan, 
its provisions, its measures, its means, as well 
as the plan itself, must be according to his 
own decision: his will, his sovereign plea- 
sure, reigns over and throughout the whole. 
It is undeserved; it is unsolicited; nay, it 
is even opposed by those for whom it is in- 
tended. 

The number to be saved, whether the 
whole, or only a part, depends entirely on his 
own will: no creature has a right to interfere 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 169 


with this decision. Nor can I possibly suppose 
that this point is left undecided in the counsels 
of infinite wisdom. That God alone has the 
right, and that he is competent to decide, is 
evident. If, however, it should be supposed that 
this point is not decided; that the great Jehovah 
thought proper to determine every thing else 
belonging to this wonderful and gracious plan, 
except the number to be saved; then, permit 
me to ask, by whom is this important point to 
be decided? to whom shall it be referred? Shall 
God, by his own wisdom determine, every 
thing else, and refer this matter to the holy 
angels; leave it with them to decide? There 
is not an angel in heaven who would not 
shudder at the idea; they know too much of 
the infinite wisdom of their Sovereign to 
think of undertaking a task like this; of dic- 
tating, or even offering advice to him. What 
he does they approve and adore. Shall it be 
left with sinners themselves to decide? Let 
the question, then, be proposed, in succession, 
to each individual to answer for himself: Are 
you willing to be saved? Are you willing 
to cease from sin, and to become holy? The 
whole thousand would be unanimous in an- 
swering, No! They would answer according 
15 


170 LETTERS ON 


to their own nature, their own inclinations, 
desires, and affections, which are all sinful; 
each one would, therefore, without hesitation, 
say, No! That this is not a slanderous exag- 
geration, but a sober and solemn truth, the 
unequivocal language of Scripture and all 
accurate observation of human life, do abund- 
antly prove. ‘To suppose that a different 
answer would be given, is to suppose that he 
who gives it is not a sinner; of course, that 
he is not one of this thousand; or, that he 
does not belong to the human race. Such, 
then, would be the result, if this decision were 
left to man; for if this were the answer of 
each individual respecting himself, it would 
be the answer of the whole thousand collect- 
ively. The whole plan of salvation would 
fail. The sufferings of the Saviour, the pro- 
elamations of mercy, the offers of pardon, 
would all be in vain! Not one of the whole 
thousand are willing to cease from sin, or 
cherish one devout sentiment. They unani- 
mously prefer the practice and. the pleasures 
of sin; of course, reject these offers. Such is 
the reception with which the Gospel univer- 
sally meets from man, under the influence of 
depraved nature. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 171 


But why should we suppose that God has 
not determined this point, whether the whole, 
or only a part of the guilty, shall be saved? 
Is it because he is incompetent to the task? 
Who then are more competent than he? Cer- 
tainly it is a decision of great importance in 
the divine government, and ought to be made 
in such a manner as would best promote the 
divine glory. To whom is this glory more 
important, and more precious than to God 
himself? Who understands more clearly than 
he does, the means of securing and promoting 
it? Wisdom is displayed in proposing the 
best end, and in devising means best calculated 
to accomplish that end. What end can sur- 
pass the glory of God? For this purpose the 
universe was created; for this purpose the plan 
of redemption was devised; for this purpose 
sinners are saved: they are vessels of mercy 
which he prepares to make known the riches 
of his glory. If then it is a decision so inti- 
mately connected with the divine glory, and 
requires the exercise of wisdom, of the greatest 
wisdom, where is the creature, or where are 
the creatures who possess greater wisdom than 
God; and who could decide this point ina 
manner better calculated than he, to promote 


172 LETTERS ON 


this glory? The collected wisdom of the uni- 
verse, when compared with that of Jehovah, 
is less than the taper compared with the sun. 
Whatever others may think and say, to my 
mind it is perfectly clear, not only that God is 
competent, but that he alone is competent to 
decide this question. 

Or shall we suppose he declines this decision 
because he has not the right to make it. Who 
then possesses this right; and from whence do 
they derive it? Creatures derive their exis- 
tence, and all that they possess from God. If 
they possess this right, they must have derived 
it from the Creator. If he conferred it on 
them, he must have previously possessed it 
himself; and as all that he does is according 
to the ccunsels of infinite wisdem, he must 
have had reasons for this transfer which infi- 
nite wisdom approves. What are these rea- 
sons? Will creatures exercise this right, and 
decide this point, with greater safety to the 
divine government, and more to the glory of 
God, than he himself could do? Unless they 
could make a better decision than he could, 
there would be no reason for transferring this 
right to them; and without a reason, such as 
infinite wisdom will approve, the transfer can- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 173 


not be made. A better decision they could 
not form unless they possessed greater wisdom 
than he does. This is impossible; for his 
wisdom is infinite. It requires, therefore, but 
a little sober reflection to see that this supposi- 
tion leads to the grossest absurdity. 

If then creatures ‘attempt to exercise this 
right, they must have usurped it. They must 
arrogate to themselves the high prerogative of 
God, and thus undertake to prescribe to their 
Maker and their Judge, what he must do. 
For those who exercise a right, do not merely 
offer advice, but pronounce an authoritative 
sentence. Now we are perfectly sure that 
the holy angels will not usurp this high prerog- 
ative of God; they will not undertake to leg- 
isiate for their Sovereign. If it be usurped 
and exercised, it must be done by men: by 
the very criminals whose case is involved in 
the decision. That they are capable of attempt- 
ing such a daring outrage, is a melancholy 
fact. In amanner as unequivocal and as in- 
telligible as words could be, by their confirmed 
disposition, and their uniform practice, they 
are daily and hourly declaring their disappro- 
bation of the divine law. By their love of 
sin, they reproach this law as neither just nor 


174 LETTERS ON 


good. Such is the madness and folly of sia- 
ners that they are capable of arrogating the 
right of deciding this momentous case. But 
what would be their decision? We have 
already seen that they would decide against 
that part of salvation which implies and re- 
quires deliverance from sin. That they would 
object to regeneration and holiness of heart 
and life, is just as certain as that, by nature, 
they love and practise sin. Their sentence 
would be according to their own character, 
and what they conceived to be their own inte- 
rest. For it is impossible for men, or angels, 
or even for God himself, to love and choose, 
at the same time, two things so diametrically 
opposite as sin and holiness. Let us suppose 
then, that each individual gives his decision of 
this case, and it will be this: “I am not to be 
finally condemned. I am to walk according 
to my own lusts; to gratify my own desires; 
to live according to my own pleasure, without 
control, and without punishment.” This 
wotld be the unanimous voice of the whole 
thousand; for their natures are all the same. 
This is the decision of a criminal respecting 
himself, whose crimes are deeper than erim- 
son, and more numerous than the stars in the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 175 


sky; whose guilt is established by testimony 
clearer than the sun. It is the decision of one 
whose character is folly, dictating to infinite 
wisdom. It is a weak, selfish, wicked, con- 
demned rebel, spurning the clemency of his 
sovereign; claiming the privilege of prostra- 
ting the best of laws under his feet with impu- 
nity; pronouncing an authoritative sentence, 
which through an endless duration, is to have 
an important influence on the government of 
the universe. Now, I question very much, 
whether the ingenuity of man, or even the 
talent of an angel, could conceive a more pal- 
pable absurdity than this consummate folly 
and daring wickedness, usurping the reins of 
government from the hands of infinite wisdom 
and perfect goodness. The conclusion, in my 
view, is unavoidable, that God alone has the 
right to decide this point. 

Let us, however, take another view of the 
subject. The government of moral agents is 
exclusively in the hands of God; from him 
they have received those laws by which they 
ought to be regulated; to him alone they are 
accountable. The infliction of punishment, 
and the exercise of mercy, are among the 
most important measures of all governments, 


176 LETTERS ON 


both human and divine. Now, according to. 
supposition, there are under this moral go- 
vernment, one thousand criminals, justly con- 
demned, who deserve to perish. The ques- 
tion to be decided is, whether the whole 
number, or only a part of them shall be pu- 
nished as they deserve, whether the whole or 
only a part shall be saved. Admit, for a ro- 
ment, that there is neither folly, presumption, 
nor wickedness, in creatures deciding this 
case; suppose they determine the number to 
be saved: yet they could not possibly execute 
their own sentence. This can be done by 
God alone. Salvation is the gracious gift of 
God; and it is not even supposable that crea- 
tures can bestow the favour of God their Sove- 
reign, on whomsoever they please. In exe- 
cuting this sentence he would not work after 
the counsel of his own will, but according to 
the will of another. While inflicting deserved 
punishment, or dispensing unmerited pardon, 
he would only fill the subordinate office of 
executor of the will and pleasure of others. 
He could not, then, with propriety, be called 
the Supreme Ruler; in as much as there are 
others, by whose decision, in these important 
measures, he is governed. ‘This part of the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 177 


government, so important, and so difficult, at 
least with man, to be administered with safety, 
would not be his, but would belong to those 
whose will he obeys. You will, at once, per- 
ceive that this violates all our ideas of propri- 
ety, and is directly contrary to the whole 
tenor of Scripture. Those who suppose that 
God himself does not decide this question, 
must suppose that he does not sustain the high 
and august character of Supreme Ruler of the 
Universe; that in some important measures, 
he is only the’ subordinate agent of others. 
Those who believe that he is the Supreme 
Ruler, believe, of course, that he decides re- 
specting this and every other measure of his 
own government. 

That the Lord Jehovah, and he alone, is 
competent to decide this question; that he 
alone has the right; that as Supreme Ruler he 
must decide it; appears to be the unavoidable 
conclusion, flowing from premises clearly es- 
tablished. 

Another point of great importance in the 
scheme of redemption, is, when shall this deci- 
sion be made; or when has it been made? 
The whole scheme will soon come to a close; 
the last pardon will soon be given; “the Son 

16 


178 LETTERS ON 


will soon deliver up the kingdom to the Fa- 
ther, that God may be all in all.” The deci- 
sion* must be made before that day arrives. 
The number of those who shall “enter into 
the joy of their Lord,” will then be com- 
pleted, neither to be increased nor diminished 
for ever. If it should be supposed that God 
has not determined this matter before, he must 
determine it then. His determination, let it 
be formed when it may, must rest upon such 
reasons as infinite wisdom will approve; for 
this is the character of all his works. He 
does nothing in an arbitrary manner, but all 
things according to the counsels of his wis- 
dom. ‘These reasons are not discovered by 
investigation, nor his wisdom increased by 
experience. He is, then, as competent to 
make the decision now, as he will be at the 
last moment of time. But those reasons were 
as well known to him, were as clearly per- 
ceived, before the foundation of the world, as 
they are now. I cannot, then, conceive, nor 
do I suppose that any man can conceive, why 
the decision should be delayed after all the 
reasons on which it is founded are clearly per- 
ceived. And as itis certain that these reasons 
were thus clearly verceived from all eternity, 


ca 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. ' ee 


it is equally certain, at least in my view, 
that from all eternity, this decision has. been 
made. 


LETTER XV. 


THE MEANS OF SALVATION, SUITED TO EACH, INDIVIDUAL, 
EMBRACED IN THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 


Tuar God has appointed the means as well 
as the end, is a truth which ought not to 
escape our attention. If the salvation of sin- 
ners is an end, determined in the councils of 
heaven, the means for accomplishing this end, 
are also appointed by the same. councils. 
These means are wisely adapted to the neces- 
sities and character of sinners. They are 
guilty and need pardon; they are depraved, 
and need regeneration and holiness; they are 
ignorant, and need instruction. 

That mankind are ignorant, by nature, of 
the plan of salvation, through a divine Saviour, 
is an undeniable truth. That they are igno- 
rant of the true character of God, is equally 
evident. Some idea of a Supreme Being 
may, indeed, be found in most nations: but 


180 LETTERS ON 


this knowledge is so blended with error and 
absurdity as to be utterly insufficient to an- 
swer the purpose of a safe guide. ‘That this is 
a dangerous ignorance, destructive to the soul, 
is confirmed by observation and by Scripture. 
“My people perish for lack of knowledge. 
Having the understanding darkened, being 
alienated from the life of God through the 
ignorance that is in them, because of the 
blindness of their hearts.”? In order to sal- 
vation it is evident that this ignorance must 
be removed. And as nothing but light can 
remove darkness, so nothing but knowledge 
can dispel ignorance. Without the knowledge 
of the Gospel, there can be no salvation; for 
“this is life eternal, that they might know 
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom thou hast sent.”?> This knowledge is 
not, now at least, acquired by miracle, but in 
the same way in which the knowledge of 
other things is obtained; by the application 
of the understanding; by attention and dili- 
gence in study. In order to this, the means of 
information must be placed within the reach 
of every individual. The Bible, either direct- 
ly or indirectly, is the only source from 
whence this information can be obtained. All 


o “ie 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 181 


who are saved, must either read and under- 
stand the Bible personally themselves, or they 
must receive instruction from those who are 
acquainted with it. The determination, there- 
fore, to save sinners, includes the means on 
which that salvation depends. And as there 
is no regeneration without the word of God; 
no eternal life without the knowledge of the 
true God, and of Jesus Christ; and as this 
knowledge can only be’ obtained from the 
Bible; the divine purpose iscludes, of course, 
the presentment of the sacred pages to their 
attention. The design of God to call, to jus- 
tify, to glorify sinners, secures the existence 
and concurrence of all the numerous and 
various circumstances and events on which 
their acquaintance with the Bible depends. 
There is almost an endless variety in the 
circumstances and events which bring different 
individuals to this acquaintance; all arranged 
and brought into operation at the proper time, 
and in their proper order by the wisdom of 
Him, to whom “all his works are known from 
the beginning.”?” Some cannot remember the 
time, when the care of pious parents began to 
store their minds with religious instruction; 
others arrive at maturity, and even old age, 


ailing 


182 LETTERS ON 


before the knowledge of a Saviour shines into 
their hearts. 

It is not, however, the mere possession of 
this knowledge that will save the soul, though 
it cannot be saved without it. Thousands 
possess it in various cegrees who furnish the 
most afflictive proof that they are “ children 
of wrath.”? No degree of knowledge without 
a change of heart, will prepare sinners for the 
joy of their Lord. This change is effected by 
divine power; it is the peculiar and exclusive 
work of the divine Spirit; yet this divine 
Agent generally works by the use of means, 
and chiefly by the instrumentality of trath. 
That some are savingly enlightened by read- 
ing the Bible, without the opportunity of 
attending public worship, I am ready to admit; 
still it is a fact, that “it pleases God, by the 
foolishness of preaching, to save those who 
believe.’? By this, sinners are generally im- 
pressed and awakened, and Christians are 
edified. But how often has every minister of 
the Gospel occasion to observe and lament, 
that his preaching fails to awaken the careless! 
His most solemn warnings; his most plain 
and forcible representations; his most earnest 
and affectionate entreaties, so far as he can 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 183 


observe, are in vain! Sabbath after Sabbath, 
and year after year, many of his hearers attend 
and return from the house of God, in the same 
state of insensibility to spiritual things. That 
preacher who is unwilling to acknowledge 
the necessity of divine agency to the success 
of the Gospel, might almost as well acknow- 
ledge, that it is not Christ Jesus, but himself, 
he is preaching; that he is not making full 
proof of his ministry; that he only wishes to 
secure the unhallowed applause, not the salva- 
tion of his hearers. The belief of this doctrine 
is their only refuge, their only hope of success; 
this, in the midst of surrounding discourage- 
ments, animates them to persevere. His in- 
fluences they cannot command; but they can 
use those means, which, through his aid, are 
successful. Sometimes the hearer is more 
attentive and serious; good and lasting im- 
pressions are made. ‘This is often, if not in 
all cases, owing to a different state of mind in 
the hearer. Some event has occurred which 
has brought the mind into a more serious 
mood; which has drawn off the thoughts a 
little more than usual from the world; and 
thus, without changing the heart has prepared 
it to receive the word. Some narrow escape 


184 LETTERS ON 


from danger; some afflictive dispensation of 
providence; something in the conversation, or 
example of a Christian; or some daring wick- 
edness in a profligate sinner, may, in the hands 
of the Spirit, have been the means of leading 
to such a train of reflection as to open the 
heart for the reception of the Gospel. At the 
same time, without supposing that the preach- 
ing which he hears is, upon the whole, better 
than he has formerly heard, yet there may be 
something in the manner of the preacher, or 
in the sermon itself, peculiarly adapted to his 
present state of mind, which renders it more 
interesting and more impressive. | Under 
the impulse of these impressions, though very 
slight compared to what they ought to be, yet 
the mind is excited to further reflections, and 
further inquiries respecting spiritual things ; 
and is thus prepared to observe more eareful- 
ly the events of providence, and to hear with 
more interest and more profit, the preaching 
of the word. ‘Thus that insensibility of heart, 
and that blindness of mind which characterize 
impenitent sinners, is gradually, and to him- 
self, perhaps, imperceptibly changed. At 
length the truth, respecting his own guilt and 
danger, is admitted, which, formerly, without 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 185 


this preparation, this opening of the heart, 
would have been heard with inattention, or 
have been rejected through unbelief. Thus 
he becomes the subject of those genuine con- 
victions of sin which extort from his heart the 
inquiry, what must I do to be saved? an in- 
quiry which indicates a preparation of mind 
to welcome the Saviour, and his salvation. 
By the dispensations of providence, and chief. _ 
ly by the Gospel and its holy ordinances, he is 
brought, “labouring and heavy laden,”’ to the 
“ Tamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the 
world,” in whom he trusts with an humble 
confidence; and finds “joy and peace in be- 
lieving.”? He does not now, with cold indif- 
ference, merely admit that the gospel is true; 
he rejoices to believe and feel that it is true; 
he embraces, he loves, he clings to it as his 
only refuge, his only ground of hope. His 
heart is radically changed; he is a new crea- 
ture; he is a Christian. 

Without affirming that the Holy Spirit ob- 
serves this method, in the case of every one 
brought to Christ; yet I am inclined to think 
it more generally the method, than Christians 
are aware of. In giving a narrative of their 
religious experience, they very frequently 


186 LETTERS ON 


omit those occurrences and those events which 
produced those slight impressions, those first 
thoughts and reflections, which prepared the 
mind to receive those deeper and more per- 
ceptible impressions, with which they usually 
begin their narrative. The very first reflec- 
tion, with the cause which produced it, ought 
not to be omitted, any more than those more 
decisive effects which flowed from it. That 
circumstance, or that event which proved the 
cause of such reflection, however trivial and 
unimportant it might appear, in the view of 
men, was appointed, in the counsels of infinite 
wisdom, as an important part of the means of 
turning the sinner from darkness to light. 
Without this occurrence, the reflection to 
which it gave rise, would not have been ex- 
cited; and without this reflection, the mind 
would not have been disposed to hear the 
Gospel with the same profit; and thus it 
would not have been prepared to receive 
those deeper impressions and those genuine 
convictions for sin, which may be traced back, 
in unbroken connexion, to the first serious 
thought, and the cause which produced it. If 
that event had not occurred precisely when it 
did, this reflection would not have been excl- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 187 


ted; the mind would have remained the vic- 
tim of that insensibility, which would have 
resisted the truth. Had the Gospel not been 
heard while the mind was in this state; or had 
there been nothing in the manner of the 
preacher, or in his sermon, adapted to this 
state of mind, the effect would not have taken 
place. Under other circumstances, and with 
a different disposition, the sinner might have 
heard, as he had often done before, and as 
thousands are habitually hearing, with the 
most stupid indifference. But the intention 
of God to give eternal life, secures the means 
of accomplishing that intention. These means 
wisely adapted to each individual, in all their 
endless variety, in their minutest details are 
as much according to his holy and sovereign 
pleasure, as the plan of salvation itself. The 
Holy Spirit, with unerring and effectual con- 
trol, directs that series of events, that succes- 
sion of means which, through his agency, 
becomes instrumental in promoting the moral 
improvement of the mind, from the very first 
serious reflection, to the highest exultation of 
faith and hope. Uncertainty respecting one 
circumstance, or one single event, would mark 
with imperfection the plan and the work of 


188 LETTERS ON 


the Spirit; all the subsequent events, which 
flow from this as their cause, would be equally 
uncertain; all the impressions, all the effects, 
which these events are the means of produ- 
cing, would also be involved in the same un- 
certainty. The whole work, and of course, 
the salvation of the soul, might, in this way, 
be uncertain. But it is impossible that uncer- 
tainty can belong to the designs of God: with 
Him there is nothing vague, indefinite or un- 
certain. 

This conclusion I do not see how to avoid, 
unless we suppose that, by the grace of God, 
the sinner is turned into a mere machine. 
This, indeed, is a charge often brought against 
Calvinism: but it is like all other charges 
brought against it—perfectly groundless. It 
has its origin in prejudice, or in ignorance; 
perhaps in both. It would not be a whit more 
remote from truth to say, that the food which 
man receives, and the air which he breathes, 
turn his body into a statue of marble, than to 
say, that the doctrines of grace, usually called 
Calvinistic, turn his mind into a machine, 
without intelligence, without thought or reflec- 
tion; and which can be moved only by phy- 
sical force. The doctrines of grace produce 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 189 


their effect by calling into action, the most 
vigorous action, every faculty of the soul; 
instead of destroying or suspending, they 
awaken into lively exercise, all the virtuous 
sensibilities of the heart. They furnish the 
mind with useful materials for thought and 
reflection, while they present to the heart, 
objects most worthy of its affections. Whole- 
some food, water, and air, do not more natu- 
rally, nor more certainly, nourish the body, 
tnan the doctrines of grace improve, expand, 
and elevate the mind. According to these 
doctrines, the sinner is not driven, blindfolded, 
into the kingdom of heaven, nor is he bound 
to it, like the sacrifice with cords to the altar; 
in the day of divine power he is willing; he 
is led, not driven, by the Holy Spirit; he is 
drawn by loving kindness, which employs his 
serious and devout consideration. 

For the purpose of illustrating the preceding 
remarks, permit me to call your attention to 
the case of Lydia; Acts xvi. 14. Paul, the 
first Sabbath after he arrived at Philippi, went 
out of the city, by a river side, where prayer 
was wont to be made, and there spake unto 
the women who resorted thither. “And a 
certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of pur- 


190 LETTERS ON 


ple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped 
God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened, 
that she attended to the things which were 
spoken of Paul.’? This is a short, but satis- 
factory account of Lydia’s first acquaintance 
with the Gospel, and of her cleaving to the 
Lord with purpose of heart. The preaching 
of Paul was blessed by the Holy Spirit, as 
the means of her salvation. Her presence, at 
this time, by the river side, was secured by 
the purpose of God, in the ordinary course 
of providence. Her reasons for leaving her 
native city, Thyatira, in Asia Minor, we do 
not know: probably they grew out of the 
trade in which she was employed. No doubt 
she came voluntarily, and without any. expec- 
tation of what happened. The only wise 
God overruled the motives, by which she was 
induced to change her residence, to his own 
glory in her salvation. Her residence in Phi- 
lippi, and her attendance at the place of prayer, 
are not only secured, but her mind also was 
prepared. Whose heart the Lord opened, &e. 
Thomson translates this, more correctly, ‘“ the 
Lord had opened her heart.”? This opening 
of the heart, this preparation of the mind, was 
a work already performed, previously to her 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 191 


attendance on this occasion. He who ealled 
Paul to come over into Macedonia, and who 
called Lydia, though in a different way, from 
Thyatira to Philippi, had arranged all those 
circumstances, and brought about all those 
events, which were made instrumental in 
giving her thoughts and reflections. that par- 
ticular direction which left her mind in a state 
most favourable to receive and welcome the 
messages of mercy. Under the same unerring 
coutrol, Paul was led to make those remarks, 
to give those views of the Gospel which 
exactly suited her case, and which, being 
received by faith, sprung up, like seed in good 
ground, and brought forth the peaceable fruits 
of righteousness, the end of which is everlast- 
ing life. “The preparation of the heart in 
man, and the answer of the tongue, is from 
the Lord.”’ 

As Lydia was a free agent, she must have 
left her native city under the influence of 
motives presented to her in the ordinary way, 
arising out of the events of her life. Had 
these events been different, they would not 
have presented the same motives; and with- 
out motives, or reasons, she would not have 
changed her residence. Nor was her heart 


192 LETTERS ON 


opened by any miraculous interposition, but 
by the blessing of God on the ordinary, per- 
haps, casual occurrences of life. Had these 
occurrences been different, they would not 
have answered the purpose of preparing her 
mind to receive the truth. Had Paul spoken 
on a different subject, or in a different manner, 
not adapted to the state of her mind, the effect, 
without a miracle, would not have taken place. 
But God, who, from the beginning, had chosen 
her to salvation, had chosen also the means 
which were instrumental in bringing her, with 
suitable preparation of heart, to the place 
where she heard the words, by which she was 
saved. Similar attention is paid to every one 
who is brought to the Saviour, by Him who 
is wonderful in counsel. 


LETTER XVI. 


THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD SUBSERVIENT TO THE DESIGNS OF 
MERCY—GREAT EVENTS MADE UP OF SMALLER—-OUR DUTY 
AND INTEREST TO MEDITATE ON ALL HIS WORKS. 


As Iam not writing a system of theology, 
nor attempting to express my thoughts on a 


THE DIVINE PURPOSR. 193 


particular subject in systematic order, you 
must not be disappointed if you do not find 
every sentence and paragraph in what you 
may suppose to be its proper place. There 
are several considerations which I wish to 
suggest at present. Some of them might as 
well have occupied any other place: at the 
same time, they may be here, as well as any 
where else. 

The subserviency of providence to the de- 
signs of mercy, has been already mentioned; 
and as it follows as a consequence, from the 
remarks of the preceding letter, I wish to 
offer a few further reflections on the subject. 
This subserviency is not only perceivable to 
all attentive readers of the Bible, but is fre- 
quently mentioned in plain terms. If the 
Lord girded Cyrus, held his right hand, sub- 
dued nations before him, it was all “ for Jacob 
his servant’s sake; and for Israel his elect.”? 
The Jews, as a correction for their idolatrous 
practices, are suffering in a state of bondage; 
the correction has, at length, produced the 
desired effect; and they are now to be restored 
to their native land, to rebuild the temple; to 
solemnize their annual festivals; and to rein- 
state the worship of the true God. In subser- 

MY) 


194 LETTERS ON 


viency to these designs Cyrus achieves his 
victories; releases the Jews from their capti- 
vity; restores them to their beloved country; 
even aids them in rearing the temple from its 
ruins; and encourages and protects them in 
the worship of Jehovah. 

What a long train of events was rendered 
subservient to the removal of Joseph into 
Egypt! These events can be traced back to 
his father’s partiality; to his own dream; to 
the envy, and unfeeling cruelty of his brethren. 
«They thought evil against him; but God 
“meant it unto good—-to save much people 
alive.’ Gen. 1. 20. In this the Egyptians, 
the most learned and refined people then on 
earth, had an opportunity of becoming ac- 
quainted with the character and worship of 
the true God. We are not informed that they 
improved the privilege; most probably they 
did not. Both nations and individuals, how- 
ever, are accountable for the opportunities of 
improvement which are presented to them. 
If the means of salvation are placed fairly 
within their reach, they are left without 
excuse, though they should neglect, and even 
resist those means. Yet who will venture to 
say that none of them were enlightened by 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 195 


the illustrious and pious example of Joseph 
and his father; by the messages and miracles 
of Moses? The migration and bondage of the 
Hebrews in Egypt was rendered subservient 
to other great and important purposes. They 
were rescued from this bondage, conducted 
through the wilderness, and planted in the 
promised land, by an astonishing and constant 
succession of miracles. ‘Their departure from 
Kigypt; their passage through the Red Sea; 
the giving of the law, at Mount Sinai; the 
manna from heaven; the water from the rock; 
the pillar of a cloud, and of fire; are among 
the most astonishing and terrible displays of 
the divine power and glory; and continue to 
warn and instruct the world to this day. 
Wherever the Bible goes, the thunders of 
Sinai are heard, and its lightnings are seen. 
In a certain sense, the pillar of cloud by day, 
and of fire by night, continue to guide the peo- 
ple of God, through the wilderness, towards — 
the promised land. These were, at least, to 
the Jews, very instructive and impressive les- 
sons; memorials of which were continued 
among them by divine appointment. For 
this purpose they are often referred to, by 
their religious teachers. The worship of 


196 LETTERS ON 


Jehovah is often enforced, by reminding them, 
that He whom they are required to love and 
obey, is “the Lord their God, who brought 
them out of the land of Egypt, and from the 
house of bondage.”’ 

Had these miracles not been performed and 
recorded, the Jews, and the world, would not 
have received this instruction: had they not 
been in bondage in Egypt, the occasion of 
these miracles would not have existed: had 
the famine not prevailed, they would not have 
been there; for this was the cause of their 
going: had Joseph not been in Egypt, previ- 
ous to this time, bread would not have been 
found, even there; for he was the means of its 
preservation, and thus the cause of their going 
would not have existed: had Joseph not been 
sold, and carried into Egypt, he would not 
have been there: had his brethren loved him 
as they ought; had they not envied, and hated 
him, they would not have sold him: had not 
his father loved him more than all his other 
children, they would not have hated him. 
Little did that venerable patriarch know the 
long train of consequences which were to flow 
from his fond partiality! ‘They were perfect- 
ly known, however, to Jacob’s. God, who 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 197 


rendered this partiality, with all the conse- 
quences which flowed from it, subservient to 
the manifestation of his own power, his good- 
ness and his mercy; who, in the counsels of 
eternal wisdom made this partiality an indis- 
pensable link in that chain of events which 
enlightened, and will continue to enlighten 
the world, till the last hour of its existence. 
The first settlers of New England were 
induced to leave their native country by 
religious intolerance. At home they could 
not enjoy the privilege of worshipping God, 
according to the dictates of their own con- 
science. This privilege they sought, and 
found, in the new world. They brought 
with them the Gospel, with all its blessings; 
where it has continued to produce its heaven- 
ly effects to this hour. Those who employed 
this intolerance had certainly no design of 
spreading the Gospel to distant countries; and 
yet such was the effect which they were made 
instrumental in producing. The Most High, 
while he condemned their persecuting bigotry, 
rendered it subservient in carrying the word 
of life to that part of our country, where thou- 
sands have been, through its sacred influence, 
prepared for the mansions of glory. While 


198 LETTERS ON 


man is deterred at the peril of his soul, from 
doing evil that good may come, it is the high 
prerogative of Jehovah to bring good out of 
evil. 

The Bible Society, the greatest institution 
the world ever witnessed, except those orga- 
nized by special direction from heaven, may 
be traced back to the pious thoughts and deli- 
berations of one single man. The Rev. Mr. 
Charles, while preaching in Wales, found a 
number of families without the Bible. He 
revolved in his mind, some means of supply- 
ing this want. He expressed his wishes, and 
his views to others; who immediately entered 
into his feelings, matured his suggestions, and 
were the honoured instruments of bringing 
into operation the British and Foreign Bible 
Society. Had those families visited by this 
missionary of the cross, been supplied with 
Bibles, his feelings would not have been 
excited; for there would have been: nothing 
to awaken them; his thoughts would not have 
taken this direction; for there would have 
been nothing to lead them. Had he not felt 
and thought as he did, he would not have 
made the suggestions which he did to his 
friends; without these suggestions, they would 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 199 


neither have matured, nor brought into ope- 
ration the plan which they did; the Bible 
Society would not have existed; of course 
millions of the human family, now possessing 
the means of instruction, would have been sit- 
ting in darkness. But it was the purpose of 
eternal mercy to dispel this darkness; and 
with this view to bring into operation the 
Bible Society; not by miracle, but by human 
agents, influenced by their own thoughts, and 
their own motives; which, had attention been 
paid to the subject, at the proper time, could 
all have been traced to some dispensation of 
providence as their cause. Those dispensa- 
tions, or that state of things, which awakened 
the thoughts and reflections of Mr. Charles, 
have been related, are now on record, and 
will descend to posterity in the History of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. All those 
events which furnished the motives by which 
these numerous agents were induced to act 
their part, were embraced in the plan of infi- 
nite wisdom, and rendered subservient to the 
purpose of divine benevolence in diffusing, 
through the world, the light of life. 

Think, for a moment, of this sublime insti- 
tution in embryo; when all the existence it 


200 LETTERS ON 


had, except in the, divine purpose, was one 
single thought in the mind of Mr. Charles! 
See this thought expanding, and producing 
correspondent feelings and desires; these again 
communicated, awakening similar feelings in 
other bosoms, and ripening into a plan; this 
plan coming into active operation, moving for- 
ward with a majesty, benevolence, and power 
which indicate its heavenly origin; and now, 
behold, the extent, the usefulness and glory of 
this institution, and will you not, while anti- 
cipating its complete and final success, be con- 
strained to exclaim in the language of pious 
admiration, “ This is the Lord’s doing; and it 
is wondrous in our eyes!”’ 

Mr. R. Raikes beheld a number of chil- 
dren, neglected by their parents, profaning the 
Lord’s day, growing up in ignorance, acquir- 
ing habits of idleness and vice. ‘This affect- 
ing spectacle was rendered subservient, in 
divine providence, to the commencement of 
Sunday Schools; which promise, through the 
blessing of God, unspeakable usefulness to the 
church of Christ. The state of the heathen, 
buried in ignorance, superstition, and vice, 
perishing for lack of knowledge, has given 
rise to Missionary Societies, through which 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 201 


the spirit of primitive piety seems, in some 
degree, to be reviving. Those numerous bene- 
volent institutions which distinguish the pre- 
sent age, owe their origin to the miseries of 
man, which they are intended to relieve; and 
but for which, they would not have existed. 
These miseries are permitted to afflict one 
part of the human family, that the other part 
may have strong and rational inducements to 
afford relief; and thus to glorify God, by the 
exercise of active benevolence. 

In reading the life of the Rev. John New- 
ton, written by himself, you will find many 
incidents, which, at the time they happened, 
appeared altogether casual, and promising no 
very important results, yet were afterwards 
found to have an important influence in deter- 
mining the course of his subsequent life. Had 
these events not happened at the very moment 
when they did, or had they been but a little 
different from what they were, they would not 
have produced that train of causes and effects, 
which flowed from them. Had the events of 
his life been different, his character in all hu- 
man probability, would have also been differ- 
ent. The great Head of the Church, however, 
who intended him for distinguished usefulness, 

18 


902 LETTERS ON 


knew when, and in what manner, to employ 
the decisive control of his providence, so as to 
secure the occurrence of all those events fur- 
nishing all those opportunities and means of 
serious reflection, which, through the Holy 
Spirit, issued in that piety and zeal which 
rendered him useful to the church and to the 
world. So remarkable were some of these 
incidents, that he himself has acknowledged 
the hand of God in them, making them instru- 
mental in bringing him to the knowledge of 
himself and of his Saviour. With this view 
he has pointed them out to the particular 
attention of his readers. 

Though few men have lived a life so event- 
ful and diversified as the former part of Mr. 
Newton’s was, yet the providence of God 
extends alike to every man. Every pious 
man will delight to meditate on that guardian 
care which furnished him with the means of 
instruction, as well as on that divine power 
which rendered these instructions effectual to 
his salvation. 

- Let me recommend to you, as an employ- 
ment of your thoughts both pleasing and use- 
ful, frequently and seriously to meditate on 
that train of eyents which are connected with 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 203 


ww 


that seriousness of mind which you now feel. 
According to the statement which you have 
given me on this subject, you need go no fur- 
ther back than the day on which you received 
the first serious impression, slight indeed in 
itself, but very important as it led to further 
inquiries on spiritual things. You have stated 
that you were not in the habit of attending 
public worship, though quite convenient to 
you; that on that day you had no such inten- 
tion; but a neighbour, contrary to his usual 
custom, called, and invited you to accompany 
him; that there was something in the manner 
of this invitation which induced you to accept 
of it; that you returned with impressions, not 
very deep, but which led to further inquiries, 
and were increased by those inquiries. Here, 
with propriety, in my opinion, you date the 
commencement of that change of heart which 
you have experienced, and which, I hope, is 
the work of the Spirit—a radical change o¢ 
character. I suppose every person will admit 
the correctness of your own opinion, that the 
public worship which you attended that day , 

was blessed as the means of producing that 
thoughtfulness with which you returned home. 
On how many events did your attendance on 


204. LETTERS ON 


public worship that day depend ? It evidently 
depended. on the health of your neighbour. 
Had he been confined by sickness he would 
not have gone, and would not, of course, have 
given you the invitation which induced you 
to go. The sickness of his family might also 
have prevented him. Your own sickness, or 
that of some of your family, might have pre- 
vented your attending, though you had receiv- 
ed the invitation. After you reached the 
place of worship, the service in which you 
engaged, depended on the health of the minis- 
ter who conducted it. Your impressions, no 
doubt, depended on the sermon which you 
heard. Another sermon might not have had 
the same effect; or the same sermon from 
another person, might have been heard in 
vain. Health is evidently preserved by the 
providence of God; not by miracle, but by 
the instrumentality of second causes; by the 
air we breathe, the clothing we wear, the food 
we receive, the exercise and medicine we take, 
&e. These causes depend in like manner, on 
others which preceded them. Health, in the 
above instances, was preserved, not merely 
for its own sake, but with ulterior and more 
important views, that it might be subservient 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 205 


to the exercise of mercy. The health of your 
neighbour was preserved, that he might give 
you the invitation; your own, that you might 
accept of it; that of the clergyman that he 
might deliver those sentiments which were 
made effectual in awakening serious reflec 
tions in your mind. Such was the case with 
every individual who attended with you on 
that day. Such, indeed, is the case with all 
who, at any time, attend public worship: they 
are entirely dependent on the providence of 
God for the privilege. Our health is preserv- 
ed, or life is prolonged, that we might live, 
“not to ourselves, but to him who died for 
us, and rose again.”?” The government of 
providence is subservient to the work of 
grace ; and is carried on with an evident 
design to promote that work. 

I know that there are many pious people, 
and even some who hold the doctrines gene- 
rally called Calvinism, who are startled at the 
idea of extending their inquiries into a detail 
of particulars. They firmly believe in the 
general truth, but are afraid of tracing too 
minutely the necessary and even scriptural 
inferences from that truth. Without hesita- 
tion they ascribe to the providence of God 


206 LETTERS ON 


those great events which take place in the 
world;. but they hesitate when it is proposed 
to investigate those minor events on which 
the great one depends. The life of man, they 
admit, is preserved by the providence of God; 
and yet it is with great reluctance they think 
of inquiring into all those second causes, all 
those means which Providence employs in 
effecting that preservation. As an excuse for 
themselves, and a warning, if not a reproof to 
others, they repeat, what, from the frequent 
use made of it, by respectable speakers and 
writers, too, they honestly believe to be 
Scripture, “ Be not wise above what is writ- 
ten.””? Now;, admitting for a moment, that 
this caution was found in the Scripture, I 
cannot perceive that it justifies this fear; that 
it prohibits our inquiries into those ‘things 
which are written confessedly for our instruc- 
tion. I know, indeed, that there are limits; 
very narrow limits, too, beyond which the 
human mind cannot extend its inquiries with 
any advantage. With these good people I 
will unite most cordially in abhorring that 
rash and impious curiosity, which seeks a 
paltry distinction by agitating questions be- 
yond these limits. Such discussions are not 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 2OF 


only useless, but often injurious: they may gra- 
tify the vanity of the vainglorious, but never 
can enlighten the mind of the sober inquirer 
after truth. 

The lite of men is preserved by the provi- 
dence of God. Can it be extending our in- 
quiries too far to ask, how is it preserved? 
Is it by miracle, or the use of means? It is 
certainly safe to affirm, that it is not by mira- 
cle, but by the use of means; by providing us 
bread to eat, water to drink, &. May we 
not, with equal safety, ask, how is this bread 
provided? Is it possible to avoid the conclu- 
sion, that it is provided by second causes; by 
the labour of the husbandman, the fertility of 
the earth, the influence of the sun and rain. 
Without the influence of the sun, the rain, &ce. 
there could be no bread; and without bread, 
the life of man could not long be preserved. 
These effects, as has already been stated, are 
all, in Scripture, ascribed to God; and are 
they not as much his work, as the preserva- 
tion of life? Why then should they not be the 
subject of our inquiries and of our grateful 
acknowledgments? 

These good people believe that God created 
the earth. But the earth is composed of hills 


208 LETTERS ON 


and valleys, of rocks and mountains, and these 
again of atoms. Could he create the earth 
without creating those parts, of which it is 
composed? Can we go too far when the crea- 
tion of these particulars is ascribed to him, 
as well as the earth itself? It is admitted that 
God ‘‘hath measured the waters,” that is, the 
ocean, “in the hollow of his hand.” In mea- 
suring the ocean, must he not measure the 
drops of which the ocean is composed? A 
house consists of a great number of parts; 
each of which was included in the design of 
the architect; and are as much the product of 
his ingenuity and labour, as the building itself. 
These parts were formed and may exist sepa- 
rately; but in this state they answer no yvalua- 
ble purpose: it is only when brought together, 
and arranged in proper order, that they con- 
stitute a building. When we affirm that this 
house was planned by the skill, and built by 
the labour of the architect, may we not affirm, 
and do we not in fact, affirm, that all the parts, 
even down to the minutest, were equally the 
product of his skill and his labour? The build- 
ing could not exist without the parts; nor could 
the parts have existed without the design and 
agency of the builder. When we affirm that the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 209 


life of man is preserved by the care of Provi- 
dence, we, in like manner, affirm, if we under- 
stand our own language, that all the means, and 
all the subordinate causes, even down to the 
very minutest, are as certainly and as distinctly 
embraced in the plan, and brought into exist- 
ence through the agency of God, as that pre- 
servation itself. These minute parts, these 
subordinate causes, cannot engage our atten- 
tion at one and the same time; they may, and 
in my opinion ought, however in succession. 
To know that our life is preserved by the 
constant care of heaven, is indeed calculated 
to excite our gratitude: but will not our grate- 
ful emotions be more sincere, more useful, 
because more acceptable to God, if produced 
by an accurate knowledge of the various means, 
the subordinate events combined, which are 
rendered instrumental in our preservation? A 
person viewing a building on the outside only, 
and at some distance, would judge that the 
builder was a man of skill in his profession; 
but his idea of that skill would be more cor- 
rect and enlarged, if he should enter the 
building and examine each part in succession, 
view the neatness with which it is fitted to 
its place, the due proportion which it bears 


210 LETTERS ON 


to each other part, and to the whole build- 
ing. 

Similar remarks are applicable to that work 
of grace, by which we become new creatures. 
This renovation is effected by the use of 
means. The provision, therefore, and em- 
ployment of these means, by the Holy Spirit, 
claim our attention as constituent parts of that 
great work. The more extensively we are 
acquainted with these means, and the more 
diligently we use them, the more complete 
will the image of God bein our hearts. Great 
indeed should be our grateful acknowledg- 
ments to God for a new heart: but will they 
be less, will they not be greater, if our know- 
ledge extends, as far as humble and judicious 
inquiries are calculated to extend it, to all 
those various means which have been made 
effectual in producing that state of heart; to 
all those different series of events, which for 
years, for ages past, under the control of 
divine wisdom and power, have been con- 
verging to this point, where a new heart, 
through the good Spirit of grace, is the result 
of their combined operation? Undoubtedly 
this is the way to increase our gratitude. I 
conclude, therefore, that such investigations, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. Dib} 


conducted with right views, and with a proper 
spirit, are, at once our duty and our interest. 

The philosopher who confines his attention 
exclusively to the planets, and other great 
objects of creation, may behold sublime dis- 
plays of the Creator’s wisdom and power; he 
who views, through a microscope, the wing, 
the joints, &c. of an insect, has an additional - 
feast, which the former denies himself. So 
the Christian, who is satisfied with viewing 
the great events in the kingdom of providence 
and grace, may derive from that exhibition of 
the divine perfections which he perceives, the 
purest joy; but he who considers the smaller 
works of God, if the expression be allowed, 
has, in addition to the joys of the former, pre- 
sented to his view, numberless other sources 
of pious delight and grateful admiration. 

This was the practice of pious men whose 
history we have in the Bible. “I will medi- 
tate,’’ said the Psalmist, “of all thy works: 
I muse on the work of thy hand.’’? So pure 
was the joy derived from this source, that he 
wished others to drink from the same foun- 
tain. Hence his invitation: “ Come and see 
the work of God.”’? Hence his pious desire: 
“Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his 


913 LETTERS ON 


wonderful works to the children of men! The 
works of the Lord are great; sought out of 
all that have pleasure therein. His work 
is honourable and glorious.’? ‘This offers no 
discouragement, and still less reproof to the 
pious and humble student of the works of 
God. 

Many of those disputes which have dis- 
graced and perplexed the Christian world, 
would have been prevented, had men been 
required to be more definite in the meaning 
of their expressions. Many terms, in current 
use, are complex. One man includes more 
than another, in the meaning of such terms; 
of course, what one affirms, the other denies. 
Were both to explain their meaning by a 
statement of particulars, the ground of dispute 
might be removed. ‘T'wo men will agree that 
God governs the world, and that we are saved 
by grace; and yet dispute for want of under- 
standing the sense in which the words are 
used. Were they to define their meaning 
respectively, they would, in many cases at 
least, find they agreed, when for want of this, 
they widely differ. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 913 


LETTER XVII. 


MAN IS A PREDESTINARIAN.—THE COMMANDER OF AN AR- 
MY—THE ARCHITECT—-THE FARMER—ELECT, FOREORDAIN, 
&c. 

On last week I called to see a worthy neigh- 

bour, Mr. Boading; a pious good man. His 

opinions on some doctrinal subjects, and espe- 
cially those called Calvinistic, are different 
from my own. This difference has often 
given rise to interesting conversations, always 
conducted, I hope, with the spirit of meekness 
and humility. It was evident his mind as- 
sumed the attitude of opposition, the moment 
he heard the words election, predestination, 

&c. I consider him practically right, but the- 

oretically wrong. On his knees, and in his 

life, he is orthodox, whatever he may be in 
conversation. 

He had just commenced the execution of a 
very extensive plan for the improvement of 
his farm. Of this plan he gave me a long and 
particular account. For several years he had 
been collecting information to aid him in its 
arrangement: had made experiments himself, 
on a small scale: had carefully observed the 


914 LETTERS ON 


success attending experiments made by others; 
and had read some of the best essays on agri- 
culture. He had not merely resolved that he 
would improve his farm, leaving the means of 
improvement out of view, or to chance. His 
plan embraced a very minute detail of parti- 
culars: the implements to be used; the mode 
of tillage, varying to suit, as far as practicable, 
a wet or a dry season; the kind of crop in 
each field; the manner of treating his stock; 
were all, after mature deliberation, distinctly 
specified. He had made calculations of great 
length respecting the advantages of his plan; 
and his expectation was, that it would render 
his farm one-fourth more productive than 
formerly, with about one-fourth less labour. 
After expressing my approbation of his 
plan, and my hopes that it would answer his 
expectations, my friend, said I, you may deny 
the doctrine of election and predestination, if 
you please; but you are a predestinarian in 
practice. According to the best of your 
knowledge, you have elected or chosen the 
kind of implements to be used; you have 
predetermined the kind of crop that is to 
grow in each part of your farm for ten years 
to come. You have stated your ebject, the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 915 


increase of your wealth. To the attainment 
of this ultimate object, these decrees of your 
mind, and the means and arrangements em- 
braced in these decrees, are all subservient. 
Why can you not permit the only wise God 
to act as you have done? For the attainment 
of a laudable end, according to the wisdom 
you possess, you have arranged the plan for 
the management of your farm, the little world 
subject to your control; why not permit him 
to have his plan arranged for the government 
of the universe? Having to retire, I left 
these remarks for his reflection. 

The truth is that every man is a predesti- 
narian in practice. As far as the knowledge 
he possesses will justify, and sometimes even 
further, he arranges his plan for the regula- 
tion of his future efforts. This plan, and 
these efforts, have a special reference to some 
ultimate object, for the attainment of which 
the plan is adopted, and the efforts employed. 

The military chief generally forms the plan 
of his campaign, before he takes the field. 
The route by which the different divisions 
of his army are to move; the places where 
they are to be stationed; the point, when 
necessary, of concentration; the sources from 


°16 LETTERS ON 


whence supplies are to be obtained, are all 
predetermined. He elects to the different 
statidns, all his subordinate officers, and 
assigns to each one his appropriate part of 
the plan for execution. Each one is fur- 
nished with the weapon he is to wield, and is 
made acquainted with the part he is to act. 
From the common soldier, up through every 
intervening grade, to the commander-in-chief, 
there is complete subordination and concert, 
an army with banners. No skilful expe- 
rienced general will take the field, till these 
arrangements are previously made: if he 
should, he will probably furnish an easy vic- 
tory to his enemy, and certainly forfeit his 
claim to military prowess. 

The architect forms the plan of his building 
before his mechanical operations are com- 
menced. In his own mind the building first 
exists, complete in all its parts. When the 
foundation stone is laid; when the different 
materials are prepared, and brought together; 
as the edifice rises; when it is completed; the 
whole is in exact conformity to his design. 
He will select his assistants, or subordinate 
agents, in performing the work; but they 
must obey his will, execute his plan, and not 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. oy i 


their own. Were these subordinate agents, 
each one, to follow a plan of his own, regard- 
less of that of the chief architect, they would 
mar the beauty, and probably destroy the- 
usefulness of the building. If success is to 
crown their efforts, these agents must act in 
.complete subordination and concert; one de- 
sign must regulate all their efforts. Those 
who are utterly incompetent to form the plan 
of an elegant building, may yet very well 
execute certain parts of that plan, when form- 
ed by another. It is possible that no person 
but the architect himself may have any know- 
ledge of this plan; it may be communicated, 
even to the workmen, no further than is 
necessary for their daily operation. They 
may perform work, the use and design of 
which they do not fully comprehend. Nor 
is if necessary that they should, as their part 
is only a subordinate one; if this is well per- 
formed, it is sufficient. There are many who, 
for the want of some knowledge of architec- 
ture, could not comprehend the plan, if an 
attempt were made to state and explain it to 
them; and who are yet very sensible of the 
effect which the execution of it—which a view 
of the building has on their mind. When the 
19 ) 


218 LETTERS ON 


whole work is completed, then every person 
may know what this plan was. The building 
itself is neither more nor less, than the accom- 
plishment of the design, previously formed, 
and previously existing in the mind of the 
architect. 

The farmer, too, practises predestination. 
He decrees, in his own mind, that one field 
shall bear one kind of crop, and another field 
another kind; and that he will bestow upon 
each the proper cultivation. The labour of 
every day, and week, and month, is only the 
execution of that design which he had previ- 
ously and deliberately formed. When the 
labour of one day, or of one week is finished, 
it is not uncertain, is not left to chance, or 
casualty, what shall be the labour of the next. 
His plan extends through the whole year, and 
fixes the operations of each month and week. 
One week is predestinated to the purpose of 
planting or sowing, another to the purpose of 
reaping and gathering in the crop. The 
labour of one week must necessarily precede 
that of the following week. To neglect this 
order, this subordination, would be fatal to his 
hopes. In vain would he sow, without first 
preparing the soil; in vain would he expect to 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 219 


reap, without having sowed. His labour must 
not only be performed in succession, but each 
part of it at the proper time. If his seed is 
sown in harvest, it can only disappoint his 
expectations. No skilful and experienced 
farmer will neglect this order and this suc- 
cession. He determines to employ such a 
number of labourers as are sufficient for the 
performance of the work. To these he makes 
known his plan so far as is necessary for their 
daily operations; further than will answer this 
purpose, they may know nothing of his inten- 
tion. He may direct a certain field to be 
ploughed in a particular manner, without 
informing the ploughman for what purpose 
that manner of ploughing is required. His 
labourers have nothing to do with this plan, 
but only to execute such parts of it as may be 
assigned to'them. At the very time they are 
performing their work, they may not under- 
stand the purpose which that work is intend- 
ed to answer. It may have an important con- 
nexion with purposes which have not been 
communicated to them. They may conjec- 
ture what are the designs of their employer; 
but in these conjectures they may be widely 
mistaken. They may even censure his plan, 


220 LETTERS ON 


as defective and badly arranged; but how 
absurd would be that censure. Let them 
wait till the whole plan is executed; then 
what formerly appeared to be defects, may 
become, in their view, real excellencies; what 
appeared badly calculated to promote his inter- 
est, or even to operate against it, may be the 
very measures which promoted and secured 
that interest. Because they are but partially 
acquainted with his design, they may even 
deny that he has any plan, extending through ~ 
the year; let them wait till the end of the 
year, and they will see and confess that their 
denial proved nothing but their own igno- 
rance. | 

It cannot, indeed, be affirmed of any of 
these designs that they are immutable, or that 
they will certainly be accomplished. The 
knowledge of men is very imperfect and very 
limited. In the prosecution of their designs, 
events which they could neither foresee nor 
prevent, may occur, which will render part of 
the means embraced in their plan, not only 
useless, but injurious to the attainment of 
their ultimate object. During their progres- 
sive operations, they may discover that, 
although the means employed will answer a 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 22) 


good purpose, yet other means will answer 
still better. In all such cases it is their wis- 
dom to change their plan according to this 
additional knowledge. Such difficulties may 
eccur as will render certain parts of their 
plan altogether impracticable, which will, of 
course, he relinquished. But had this know- 
ledge been possessed; had these difficulties 
been foreseen; had those means, better adapt- 
ed to the end, been known; the plan itself, in 
its original formation, would have varied, just 
as it afterwards does when this additional 
knowledge is acquired. The knowledge of 
men, though generally progressive, is never 
perfect. In forming their designs they can- 
not employ that wisdom which can only be 
acquired by future experience and observa- 
tion. Hence their plans often change, and 
some of them are never accomplished. Was 
their knowledge greater, their plans would be 
less mutable; was their power greater, they 
would more frequently be realized. 

In the same manner, if I am not entirely 
mistaken, that is, according to a plan, delibe- 
rately, and previously formed, men employ 
their influence in attempting to change the 
moral character of others. The truth that 


299 LETTERS ON 


they do, and that they ought, in this manner, 
to exert themselves, is the basis of some very 
important religious duties. “Train up a 
child in the way in which he should go:?’ 
“ Parents, bring up your children in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord;’? are some 
of them. Parents generally wish their child 
to possess that character which they them- 
selves most approve: because, in their opinion, 
this will most probably secure respectability 
and usefulness in life. After this model they 
will endeavour to form the character of their 
child. This opinion and this wish will decide 
on the plan to be adopted, and the means to 
be used for accomplishing this purpose. If 
they most approve the character of boldness 
and intrepidity, the actions of the brave and 
courageous will often be recited in the lan- 
guage calculated to excite, in the youthful 
bosom, the love and admiration of these qua- 
lities; while the conduct of the cowardly and 
timid will be represented in colours the most 
repulsive and forbidding.. If they wish their 
child to be industrious and economical, exam- 
ples of these useful habits will be mentioned 
with the highest commendation; while the 
name of the idle and profligate will be asso- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 993 


ciated with disapprobation and reproach. Such 
will be the case with parents who live under 
no sense of religious obligation. They will 
predestinate one child to be a professional cha- 
racter, another to be a merchant, another to 
be a mechanic, another a farmer, &c. But if 
parents themselves are truly pious, it will be 
the supreme wish of their hearts that their 
child may possess the character of genuine 
piety. Their plan of education will be dic- 
tated by this desire. The child will be taught 
to lisp the name of Jesus with reverence and 
delight. Examples of piety will be pointed 
out in the Bible as worthy of imitation. Reli- 
gious friends will be received with the most 
cordial welcome, and spoken of with affection 
in presence of the child. Vice will be point- 
ed out as dangerous and hateful. The charac- 
ter and example of the ungodly and wicked 
will sometimes be mentioned, not for the sake 
of invidious comparison, but of caution and 
warning. All their efforts will be made in 
consequence of their pious design to form the 
character of their child according to the prin- 
ciples of the Gospel, that it may be an active 
and useful member of the church, and an heir 
of salvation. ; 


224 LETTERS ON 


Ministers of the Gospel act on the same 
principle. All their efforts to reform and 
edify their hearers are according to the prede- 
termination of their own mind. They select 
a subject which will furnish matter adapted to 
what they believe to be the general character 
and state of their hearers. In many instances, 
not only their ideas, but the words by which 
these ideas are to be conveyed, are carefully 
selected, before they enter the desk. Others 
who pursue a different method, arrange the 
train of ideas, and depend on their resources, 
at the moment, for appropriate language. 

Such, as it appears to me, is the very nature 
of man, that he cannot act, at least, to any 
valuable purpose, without acting according to 
a design, previously formed. To act in this 
manner is one characteristic of intelligence, of 
rationality; and is characteristic of man, asa 
rational creature. The man who acts without 
design, who exerts himself without an object 
to accomplish by those exertions, is, at once 
suspected of insanity. A series of exertions, 
subordinate to, and connected with each other, 
as necessarily suggests the idea of a design; 
and, of course, of an intelligent mind which 
forms that design, as an action does of an 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 995 


agent, who performs that action. Such exer- 
tions not only suggest the idea of a design, 
but of a design formed, and existing in the 
mind, previously to the commencement of 
these exertions. Whether the time which 
intervenes between the formation of this de- 
sign, and the commencement of these exer- 
tions be long or short, cannot in the smallest 
degree, alter the principle. If the design 
existed but one hour, or even one moment 
before the efforts are made, its priority, in the 
order of time, is as real, and as certain, as if it 
had existed one year, or one hundred years. 
That the exertions are made in consequence 
of a design; and that this design was formed 
and existed, previously to the commencement 
of these exertions, are the points for which I 
contend; and which, I presume, no man of 
reflection will venture to deny. Of course, I 
can see no possible way of escaping the con- 
clusion that man, in the constitution of his 
nature, and in practice, is a predestinarian. In 
his own mind, according to the best of his 
knowledge, for the accomplishment of what 
he conceives to be an important purpose, he 
decrees, he elects, he foreordains, he predes- 
tinates. He determines to accomplish a spe- 
20 


326 LETTERS ON 


cific purpose; he selects the means, in his 
opinion, best adapted to this end;. he employs 
the agency of others, without making them 
fully acquainted with his design, in the exe- 
cution of which they are employed. Without 
suspending, or destroying the free agency of 
those whose true happiness he earnestly de- 
sires, he uses means to change and improve 
their character, without making them ac- 
quainted with his intention. All the actions 
of his life flow from these operations of his 
mind. Were he to act differently, he would 
furnish melancholy proof that he no longer 
retained the exercise of reason. Suppose him 
to act without design, and you reduce him to 
the grade of idiots or madmen. 

If to act from design be an undeniable proof 
of intelligence and wisdom; if to act without 
design proves the want of intelligence and 
wisdom; then, why should we not believe 
that God, whose intelligence and wisdom are 
perfect, acts also from design? that all events, 
whether great or small, in our estimation; 
whether they relate to things temporal, or 
things spiritual; to the rise and fall of em- 
pires, or to the salvation of sinners; are 
effected according to the high and holy pur- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. oy 7] 


pose of Jehovah, formed in the counsels of 
“infinite wisdom, and from all eternity, exist- 
ing in the divine mind? Till views of the 
character of God and of the meaning of the 
Bible, very different from those I now pos- 


sess, shall reach my mind, this will be my 
belief. 


——a 


LETTER. XVIII. 


THE FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF CHRISTIANS. 


AGREEABLY to your request, a few remarks 


will now be offered eee the perseve- 


rance of the saints. 

All true Christians are ‘*born of God;’’ 
their moral character is radically changed; 
they are united to Christ by faith; for his 
sake, all their sins are pardoned; they are re- 
conciled to God, and adopted into the family 
of heaven. That all such will continue in as 
state of favour with God, and finally be saved, 
with an everlasting salvation, is, in my view, 
a doctrine clearly taught in the Bible, and, 
therefore, “ worthy of all acceptation.”’ 

Two things are essential to every Chris- 
tian; a change of character and a change of 


298 LETTERS ON 


state; or in other words, sanctification, and 
justification. These two, in the plan of re- 
demption, are inseparably connected together: 
all who are sanctified, are also justified; and 
all who are justified, are also sanctified. Re- 
generation is the commencement of sancti- 
fication; and all who are “born again,”’ are 
at the same time, accepted of God. Sane- 
tification is a work: of course it admits of 
degrees, and of progress: justification is an 
act, and is perfect at once, admitting neither of 
degrees nor of progress. Sanctification exists 
in very different degrees in different indivi- 
duals, and in the same individual, at different 
periods, and under different circumstances: 
justification is alike perfect in all. Sanctifiea- 
tion delivers from the love and practice of sin: 
justification, from its guilt and condemnation. 
The one prepares the mind for the happiness 
of heaven: the other gives a right to that hap- 
piness. ‘The one is a work, effected in the 
heart: the other is an act of indemnity, passed 
in the court of heaven. That faith which 
“purifieth the heart, overcometh the world, 
and worketh by love,’ at the same time unites 
the soul to the Saviour, on whose account par- 
don is obtained. The best hopes of the Chris- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 999 


tian, that he is pardoned and accepted of God, 
rest on the evidence of his sanctification. 

Now, it is the opinion of some, that Chris- 
tians who have been thus regenerated, in part 
sanctified, united to Christ, pardoned and 
accepted of God, may, and frequently do, fall 
from grace, as it is termed; that is, that they 
may lose every feature of the Christian. cha- 
racter, be completely divested of every devout 
sentiment and pious desire; that their hearts 
may again cherish a supreme love and habitual 
desire of sin, and be filled with enmity against 
God; that they may be severed from Christ, 
cease to enjoy the favour of God, and pass, a 
second time, into a state of condemnation. I 
will not affirm that there are no passages of 
Scripture which seem to support this opinion; 
but I think the passages which support the 
doctrine of the final perseverance of Christians 
in holiness, in union with Christ, and in 
favour with God, are more numerous, more 
explicit, and more consistent with all that we 
know of the character of God, and of the dis- 
pensation of his grace. 

That some, that many thousands of Chris-. 
tians do persevere in holiness, to the last mo- 
ment of life, none will deny. Their perse- 


230 LETTERS ON 


verance must depend entirely on themselves, 
or partly on themselves, and partly on divine 
aid, or entirely on the help and purpose of 
God. Does it depend entirely on themselves? 
This, I am inclined to believe, no person will 
affirm. Their progress in holiness is as much 
the work of the divine Spirit, as regeneration 
itself. If they work out their own salvation, 
it is God who worketh in them; if they live 
in a spiritual sense, it is “ Christ who liveth 
in them;’’ “ without me ye can do nothing.”” 
Does their perseverance depend partly on 
themselves, and partly on divine aid? This, 
at first sight, may appear plausible. But what 
part of this great and important work is it that 
depends on themselves? Is it their faith? 
This is the gift, and the work of God. Their 
repentance? This is the gift of their exalted 
Prince and Saviour. Their hope? This is 
given them through grace. Their love? This 
is “shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy 
Ghost.”? Their peace? This is bequeathed 
to them by their divine Friend. Their know- 
ledge? The knowledge of God is given them. 
Is it their hatred and opposition to sin? This 
is the necessary result of those pious affec- 
tions, cherished in the heart. All these things 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 931 


are of God; as Christians, they are his work- 
manship. 

That there is a concurrence of their minds 
with the Holy Spirit, in this work, is readily 
admitted. Feeling the exercise of faith, they 
earnestly pray for its increase. Tasting the 
bitterness and perceiving the hatefulness of 
sin, they cry for help to resist its temptations 
and to escape its pollution. Their minds 
being, in some degree, savingly enlightened, 
they desire to grow in the knowledge of their 
Saviour, to abound in knowledge and wisdom 
and spiritual understanding. Every faculty 
of the mind is employed; every affection of 
the heart is excited. Yet this concurrence is 
not such as to justify us in saying that their 
perseverance depends, in any degree, on them- 
selves. To the acquisition of this knowledge, 
to the exercise of these devout affections, to 
this activity and usefulness, to this perseve- 
rance in holiness, they are “constrained by 
the love of Christ,’ they are drawn by loving 
kindness, they are Jed by the Spirit. Their 
own agency is employed in preserving the 
life of the body; and yet that preservation is 
explicitly ascribed to God: so, the agency of 
Christians is employed in preserving the 


232 LETTERS ON 


divine life; and yet this preservation is the 
peculiar work of the Spirit of God. The 
conclusion, therefore, is, that the perseverance 
of Christians, in a life of faith and holiness 
depends entirely on God. 

This conclusion is amply supported by 
scriptural authority. The prayer of our Savi- 
our furnishes this authority. For his disci- 
ples he prays to God, “ Not that thou shouldst 
take them out of the world, but that thou 
shouldst keep them from the evil. Sanctify 
them through the truth.”? The prayers of 
men, even of the best of men, may be so 
mixed with ignorance, unbelief, and imperfec- 
tion, as to render them unavailing. Paul 
“thrice besought the Lord,’’ without obtain- 
ing his request. Not so the prayers of Jeho- 
vah-Jesus: they are always according to the 
will of God; and are always heard. The 
Father has answered, and continues to answer 
this prayer. Paul affirms of the Corinthians, 
“ye are sanctified by the Spirit of our God.” 
Peter declares respecting the Christians to 
whom he wrote, that they “ were kept by the 
power of God, through faith, unto salvation.”’ 

If, then, the perseverance of Christians de- 
pends entirely on God; if any of them, having 


74 
if 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 933 


been regenerated, united to Christ, freely 
pardoned, and accepted of God, and adopted 
into his family, should fail to receive the end 
of their faith; should fall, and finally perish, 
it must be, either because God is unable, or 
unwilling to preserve them in holiness: for 
if he is both able and willing, then the work 
will certainly be accomplished; and they will 
receive the end of their faith, the salvation of 
their souls. 

Now, I cannot suppose that any man, with 
that knowledge of the divine character which 
the Bible furnishes, will say that God is unable 
to save his people from final perdition. His 
power can accomplish any thing which does 
net imply an impossibility; in the perseve- 
rance of Christians there is no impossibility; 
for thousands, through divine grace, have 
persevered. The conversion of men from sin 
to holiness, is much more difficult, in our 
view, than their perseverance in that holiness; 
and yet this great work has been performed, by 
the Spirit, in the heart of every Christian. If 
he has performed that which is difficult, can 
he not perform that which is comparatively 
easy? ‘The man who has raised a weight of 
fifty, or an hundred pounds, can he not, with 


234 LETTERS ON 


the same strength, raise one of five or of ten 
pounds? If God has quickened the soul, 
when dead in sin, changed the heart, when it 
was in enmity against him, can he not pre- 
serve that life which he has breathed into the 
soul, and keep in exercise that love which he 
has kindled in the heart? Such is the argu- 
ment of the Apostle Paul; if, when we were 
without strength, when we were sinners, were 
enemies, we were made alive, pardoned, jus- 
tified, reconciled to God: much more, that is, 
there is much greater reason to believe, that 
we shall be saved from wrath, through the 
Saviour; and in order to this, that we shall be 
preserved in holiness, without which none 
can be saved? The argument is conclusive, 
and unanswerable. | 

Besides, who are the enemies, with whom 
divine power has to contend? ‘They are, 
indeed, numerous, powerful, malignant, and 
unwearied in their efforts. Satan and his 
legions, united with wicked men on earth, 
constitute a formidable host. But still they 
are creatures; of course, completely, and at all 
times, dependent on God for the power they 
employ against the cause of Christ. Being 
creatures, their power must be limited, and by 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 235 


consequence, less than the power of God. 
Will any person believe that the less shall 
overcome the greater ? that the creature shall 
vanquish the Almighty ? that the combined 
efforts of all the wicked agents in the universe, 
shall pluck the sheep from the grasp of Om- 
nipotence! If Satan be a strong man armed, 
there is a stronger than he, to come upon him. 
If Satan is active and unwearied in his efforts 
to destroy; the Lord Jehovah is more active 
and unwearied to protect and to save. And, 
“if God be for us, who can be against us ?” 
Therefore, we conclude, respecting Christians, 
that “God is able to make them stand.” 

The willingness of God to keep his people 
from falling, is not less doubtful than his 
power. ‘This is often affirmed, in the plainest 
terms in Scripture. Those who are called, 
are cailed according to the “purpose and 
grace of God. Of his own will begat he us. 
This is the will of God, even your sanctifica- 
tion.”? It is not a subject for investigation, 
but a pleasing and momentous fact, that thou- 
sands ef Christians have persevered in the 
exercise of devout affections, and in the prac- 
tice of religious duties, through all the diffi- 
culties with which they had to contend, to the 


236 LETTERS ON 


moment of death. It is also a fact that this 
perseverance is ascribed to God, the Spirit. 
The man who would refuse to join in this 
ascription, would cast a shade of suspicion 
over his claims to the Christian character. If 
God is working in his people to will and to 
do, it is “according to his good pleasure;”’ 
that is, most willingly. “Thanks be to God 
who giveth us the victory,’”’ is the language 
of their hearts. This, too, is the language of 
heaven, where nothing but truth is admitted; 
“to him who washed us in his own blood,” 
their praises are. continually ascending. If, 
then, their sufficiency is of God; if, in a 
spiritual, as well as in a natural sense, “in him 
they live, and move, and have their being;’? 
if their perseverance is his work, he must 
perform it willingly; for there is no power 
in existence sufficient to compel him. All 
his works, whether of creation, of providence, 
or redemption, are performed according to his 
own pleasure. He does not employ a subor- 
dinate agency, in executing the purpose of 
another; but does all things after the counsel 
of his own will. If he raises the soul from 
death to life; shields it from temptation, or 
makes a way for its escape; guides, supports, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 937 


strengthens, and comforts it, through all the 
trials and afflictions of life; making all things 
work together for its good; and receives it 
finally to the joys of his kingdom; it is all 
according to his own purpose and_ grace, 
“which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our 
Lord.’’ If, then, God is both able and will- 
ing to preserve his people, they will be pre- 
served. 

Many passages of Scripture, if I am not 
entirely mistaken, clearly teach this doctrine. 
The Saviour, speaking of his people, says: 
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me; and I give unto them 
eternal life, and they shall never perish; nei- 
ther shall any pluck them out of my hand. 
My Father who gave them me, is greater than 
all; and none is able to pluck them out of my 
Father’s hand.” John x. 27, &e. The life 
here spoken of, is that spiritual life, obtained 
from Christ by faith. It is called by him who 
is the truth, eternal life; that is, it will never 
end; of course those who receive it, will never 
perish. Peter, in a passage already quoted, 
speaking of Christians, affirms, that they are 
‘‘kept by the power of God, through faith 
unto salvyation.”? 1 Pet. i. 5. Dr. M‘Knight, 


238 LETTERS ON 


on this passage, observes, that the word here 
translated kent, “signifies guarded in a gar- 
rison. The term is very emphatical here. It 
represents believers as attacked by evil spirits 
and wicked men, their enemies, put defended 
against their attacks by the power of God, 
through the influence of their faith; (1 John 
vy. 4,) just as those who are in an impregnable 
fortress, are secured from the attacks of their 
enemies, by its ramparts and walls.” This 
passage not only affirms that they are kept, but 
points out the manner in which this preserva- 
tion is effected; it is through faith. Now 
faith implies, not only the knowledge and 
belief of the truth, but also those pious affec- 
tions and dispositions, and the practice of those 
religious duties which constitute true holiness. 
“Without holiness, no man shall see the 
Lord;’’? and without faith, no man can attain 
this holiness; and without the power of God, 
no man can exercise this faith. Believers are 
kept, not by miracle, nor by means which 
operate on them as mere machines, but by 
faith; by calling into vigorous exercise, every 
power and faculty of the soul; by exciting 
their desires and aversions, their joys and 
their sorrows, their hopes and their fears, their 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 939 


love and their hatred. Hear another witness 
to the truth of Christian perseverance. “For 
he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor for- 
sake thee;”? Heb. xiii. 5., that is, as Dr. Scott 
observes, “He will not in any wise leave 
them, nor in any wise, on any account, in any 
emergency, or at any time will he forsake 
them. The emphasis of the original words, 
in which five negatives are used to increase 
the strength of the negation, according to 
the Greek idiom, can scarcely be retained in 
any translation.”? Again; Paul thanked God, 
upon every remembrance of the Philippians, 
being confident of this very thing, that “he 
who hath begun a good work in you, will 
perform it, until the day of Jesus Christ.” 
Paraphrased thus, by Dr. M‘Knight; “ And 
that he will persevere, I have no doubt; 
‘being persuaded of this very thing, that God, 
who hath begun, in you, a good work? of faith 
and love, ‘ will be completing it till the day of 
death;? when Christ will release you from all 
your trials.” Now it is evident that without 
faith and love, none can be Christians. That 
he who commences, will be employed in com- 
pleting this good work, till the day of death, 
Paul was confident; and wrote by inspiration. 


240 LETTERS ON 


Doubtless, had the occasion required it, he 
would have used the asseveration which he 
did on another occasion; “I speak the truth 
in Christ.’ 

We see, then, that the people of God pos- 
sess eternal life; of course, they shall never 
perish; for, by the power of God, they are 
kept, with such. constancy and care, that he 
will never leave nor forsake them; but be 
engaged in completing the good work, begun 
in their hearts, till the day of death. These, 
with many other passages which might be 
mentioned, are sufficient to justify the persua- 
sion, “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things pre- 
sent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- 
rate Christians from the love of God, which is 
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.’’ 


LETTER XIX. 


SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 


Ir Christians may, and frequently do, fall from 
grace, in the current sense of this phrase, they 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 94] 


not only Icse every feature of Christian cha- 
racter, every pious disposition, every trace of 
holiness, and become again totally depraved 
and sinful, as they were previously to their con- 
version; but their religious state must also be 
changed: from a state of pardon, justification, 
and peace with God, they must fall, a second 
time, into a state of condemnation. Their 
relation to God, as well as their character, 
must be entirely changed. Instead of sustain- 
ing to him the relation of children to a father, 
they must come to sustain no other relation to 
him than that of criminals to their judge. It 
has already been stated that the change of cha- 
racter, and change of state are inseparably con- 
nected together; and both are of grace. The 
life which they possess is the gift of God; and 
they are justified freely, through his grace. 
Whatever works the forfeiture of the one, does 
also of the other; and whatever secures the 
one, secures also the other. I trust it has 
been made to appear, that as their continuance 
in holiness depends entirely on God, he is 
both able and willing to preserve them in the 
exercise of holiness, so he will preserve them. 
in a state of pardon: and peace with himself; 
and that “ there is, therefore, now no condem- 
21 


949 LETTERS ON 


nation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; 
because sin has not, and never shall have 
dominion over them.”? The law of the Spirit 
of life in Christ Jesus has made them free from 
the law of sin, and by consequence, also of 
death. I do not know that we are authorized 
to affirm that God might not, if it appeared 
good in his sight, revoke his own gifts; yet 
I know of no authority from Scripture for 
believing that he ever will. They were 
bestowed freely, and not by compulsion; and 
not inconsiderately or rashly, but deliberately, 
according to the counsel of his own wisdom; 
with a perfect knowledge of all the difficulties 
which might arise in the way of their con- 
tinuance. Therefore we conclude that these 
“gifts of God,’ holiness and pardon, “are 
without repentance.’ Every argument which 
justifies our belief in their perseverance in 
holiness, proves also their continuance in a 
state of pardon; and every truth which proves 
their continuance in a state of pardon, confirms 
our conviction of their perseverance in holi- 
ness. So, on the other hand, every difficulty 
which forbids the supposition of their losing, 
or falling from the one, forbids it also of the 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 243 


other. Now, to me, it appears that the diffi- 
culties attending the supposition of their falling 
from a state of pardon and acceptance with 
God are very great, if not insuperable. 

For the sake of illustration, let us suppose 
that a man lives a sinful and wicked life for 
thirty years, and then, through the power of 
the Spirit becomes a new creature, a sincere 
and genuine Christian. All his past offences 
are, of course, forgiven; for without this he 
could not be a Christian. Let us further sup- 
pose that he continues a Christian for one year, 
and then falls from grace; and that, at the end 
of another year, he dies, a depraved sinner, 
in a state of guilt and condemnation, and of 
course perishes for ever. Will he suffer for 
all his sins, or only for a part of them? for 
those of the first thirty years of his life, or 
only for those of the last year? If only for 
those of the last year, then his punishment 
would not be in proportion to his guilt; which 
is contrar® to the principles of justice. He 
knew, for thirty years, his Lord’s will, and 
prepared not himself, neither did according to 
his will, and yet shall be beaten with few 
stripes; contrary to the solemn declaration of 
the Judge himself. Then he will not receive 


944 LETTERS ON 


according to the deeds done, that is, the sins 
committed, in the body, but only according to 
those of one year; which contradicts another 
decision of the Judge. For thirty years he 
treasured up wrath, for which no day of wrath 
overtakes him. For thirty years he wilfully 
transgressed the laws, wearied the patience 
and grieved the Spirit of God, and is brought 
into judgment and finally condemned for the 
guilt of only one year. Through an endless 
duration he will be treated neither according 
to the mercy nor the justice of God: mercy 
would save him from punishment altogether; 
justice would punish him for all his offences. 
He will neither be a ‘‘ vessel of mercy,” nor 
a “vessel of wrath.”” ‘Throughout eternity 
the glory neither of mercy nor of justice will 
be displayed in his case. In this life, indeed, 
we behold the goodness and severity, the mer- 
cies and judgments of God, exercised towards 
the same individual, because this is a remedial 
state; but not so hereafter. In @#he eternal 
state, mercy and justice will display their 
glories on their own peculiar and exclusive 
objects; all will be either vessels of mercy, or 
vessels of wrath. To my mind this suppo- 
sition appears utterly inadmissible. Every 


ww 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 945 


reason for the infliction of punishment in any 
degree, justifies and demands it, in exact pro- 
portion to the guilt of those on whom it is 
inflicted. 

Shall we then suppose that he suffers for all 
his sins? But the guilt of the first thirty 
years of his life was solemnly and gracicusly 
forgiven; for, whether he had any comfortable 
evidence of the fact or not, without the for- 
giveness of all past offences, he could not be 
a Christian; and if not a Christian, then he 
could not fall from grace. He never can suf- 
fer, therefore, for that guilt which has been 
forgiven; for pardon is exemption from desery- 
ed punishment. Exemption and suffering; 
that is, to suffer and not to suffer, at the same 
time, and for the same guilt, is clearly impos- 
sible. Pardon is as much a solemn and offi- 
cial act of the Judge and Governor of the uni- 
verse, as condemnation is; and all his acts are 
perfectly consistent. If God has justified, 
who is he that will condemn? | For the guilt, 
therefore, which has been thus forgiven, the 
man never will come into condemnation, 
unless we suppose that this act of pardon shall 
be afterwards repealed; that what God has 


246 LETTERS ON 


once solemnly and officially done, he will, in 
the same manner, undo; having voluntarily 
and deliberately declared that he will not 
punish, that he shall afterwards, in the same 
manner, declare that he will punish for the 
same crimes. When he made the declaration 
that he never would punish the man for his 
past transgressions, he certainly knew that, 
according to the case now supposed, this man 
would fall from grace, die in a state of sin, 
and finally perish; and that he would punish 
him for the very sins which he forgives. 
According to our mode of calculating time, a 
space of two years intervenes between the 
first and the last of these declarations; between 
the pardon and the condemnation. If a thou- 
sand years is with the Lord as one day, much 
more are two years as one and the same 
instant. As it regards the Judge himself, it 
is the same thing as to say that, at the same 
instant, he declares he will not, and declares 
he will punish for the same offences; at the 
same instant he pardons and condemns. If 
an earthly judge were to act thus, he ought to 
be instantly divested of his office, and sent to 
the lunatic hospital. It would grieve me to 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 47 


believe that a single human being, having 
access to the Bible, could entertain such an 
opinion of God his Maker. 

Shall we then suppose that the pardon was 
conditional; and that the condition is, the 
man’s perseverance in holiness, till the end of 
life? This cannot relieve us from our diffi- 
culties; it rather increases them. A condi- 
tional pardon is no pardon. Those who con- 
tend for such a pardon, can mean nothing 
more than the promise of a pardon for a man 
who will comply with the condition. But 
who does not see the wide difference between 
the promise of pardon in future, and the par- 
don itself which is promised? How ean it 
produce any beneficial effects until it is pass- 
ed? If it be future, how can it produce any 
present benefit? Your indigent neighbour 
comes to you almost dead with hunger, and 
asks you for a morsel of bread; you do not 
give him that which is needful for the body 
at this moment, but you promise that if he 
will preserve his life for a week, or a month, 
then you will give him bread. The physi- 
cian finds his patient dangerously ill, and 
gravely promises that if he will only continue 
to live for a week, or a month, then an infal- 


248 LETTERS ON 


lible remedy shall be administered. Such ten- 
der mercies are cruelties. And I feel confi- 
dent that you will never mock the miseries of 
any human being in this manner. Pardon is 
an act of God. The promise to perform an 
act in future, necessarily implies that it is not 
done at present. But if it be not performed 
at present, the man is not, and cannot be a 
Christian; and if not a Christian, he can have 
no holiness in which to persevere. And the 
supposition is that he possesses holiness, is a 
Christian, and yet not pardoned. But the dif- 
ficulties attending this hypothesis are not yet 
done; they rather thicken upon us as we 
advance. The heart of the man is radically 
changed by the truth and Spirit of God: he 
exercises faith in the merits of a divine Savi- 
our; feels a sincere love to God and man; is 
truly thankful for the mercies he receives; 
grieves for his sins with a godly sorrow; is 
clothed with humility; cherishes a spirit of 
gentleness, meekness, forbearance and forgive- 
ness: renders habitual and cheerful obedience 
to the Divine will; and perseveres in the exer- 
cise of these Christian virtues, and in the dis- 
charge of these duties till the end of life, or at 
least for a number of years: this is the holi- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 249 


ness in which he is to persevere; and this per- 
severance is the condition on which his par- 
don is suspended. And yet this man is not 
forgiven. He isin a state of condemnation, 
and the “wrath of God abideth on him.” 
He is sanctified, at least, in part, but not justi- 
fied: exercises all the Christian virtues: pos- 
sesses the Christian character; and yet lacks 
something essential to a Christian; is not yet 
authorised to hope for heaven, because he is 
‘not yet pardoned; need not, however, fear the 
bottomless pit, because he is holy—But I for- 
bear. ) 

If the pardon of sin depends on perseverance 
in holiness for a time, then it cannot wholly 
depend on the merits of Christ nor on the free 
mercy and pleasure of God. But we are 
assured that we are forgiven for “Christ’s 
sake;’’ and that for pardon we depend on the 
mercy of God. Besides a great many passa- 
ges of Scripture declare in the most positive 
and explicit manner, that Christians are for- 
given as soon as they believe in Christ; that 
is, as soon as they become Christians. 

When this man shall stand before his Judge, 
he may use this language: I have eaten and 
drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught 

22 


250 LETTERS ON 


me. But the language of the Judge will be, 
“Depart from me thou worker of iniquity; 
for I never knew thee,” that is, never acknow- 
ledged thee to be one of my people. Might 
not the man reply; Nay, but thou didst once 
know me. I was changed by the truth and 
Spirit of God; for one whole year, I trusted 
in thy merits; felt the life-giving and purify-. 
ing efficacy of thy blood; was reconciled to 
God through thy death; enjoyed sweet and 
holy communion with the Father and with 
thee. This would be the solemn truth. For 
the condemnation of this man, therefore, the 
Judge could not assign this reason—* I never 
knew thee.’’ 

It is alleged that sin is the cause of this fall 
from a state of holiness and favour with God, 
into a state of depravity and condemnation. 
Whether a state of sinless perfection be attain- 
able in this life or.not, I do not mean at pre- 
sent to inguire. I would just observe, how- 
ever, that when Christians are supposed to 
reach that state, they cease to be objects of the 
divine forbearance; and it is evidently impro- 
per for them to pray for mercy. If they 
commit no sin, they present nothing to exer- 
cise the patience of God; they need no mercy, 


|THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 251 


as they have no guilt to be forgiven. Those 
who contend that this state is attainable, admit 
that there are thousands of Christians who have 
not yet reached it; of course, until it is gained, 
they may, and actually do commit sin, and yet 
do not fall from grace. The advocates for 
this opinion allow that there may be a certain 
degree of sin and guilt which does not effect 
this terrible fall: I. would ask, what is that 
degree, and how is it ascertained? The nature 
of all sin is alike, hateful to God, and polluting 
and dangerous to the soul. That there are 
degrees in guilt I have no doubt. However 
diversified, in our view, those opinions, pas- 
sions, and practices may be which are con- 
demned as sinful, they all have one and the 
same quality; and that quality is. expressed 
by the term guilt. The fall of Christians 
cannot depend on the kind of sin committed, 
but on the degree of guilt contracted. Let us 
suppose that the amount of guilt which pro- 
duces this fall is twenty degrees. Then it will 
follow that all degrees below this amount are 
safe, as it regards this total loss of Christian 
character, and forfeiture of the divine favour. 
Christians may commit sin till their guilt 
amounts to five, ten, fifteen, or even nineteen 


959 LETTERS ON 


degrees, and yet they are Christians, children 
of God, interested in the blood of the cross, 
and are objects of the peculiar favour and love 
of God. But if they add one degree more, 
then they cease to be Christians, become chil- 
dren of wrath, come into condemnation, and 
cease to be objects of the divine love and 
favour. | 

The doctrine which I defend is charged, by 
its opponents, with a tendency to destroy all 
motives to Christian watchfulness and dili- 
gence, and with furnishing inducements to a 
slothful and even licentious life. Now I think 
it undeniable that this charge, with equal force, 
lies against the opinion held by these oppo- 
nents. According to their opinion Christians 
may commit sin, may gratify the desires of the 
flesh, without danger of falling, until their 
cuilt amounts to nineteen degrees, provided 
they do not add the twentieth. 

The charge is not well founded. The for- 
mer does not neglect judicious arrangements 
and remit his exertions, because he hopes 
these exertions, through the blessing of heaven, 
will be successful. This hope has nothing but 
probability for its foundation. If the proba- 
bility of success prompts him to industry, then 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 953 


the greater this probability is, the greater will 
be his inducement to labour; of course, if there 
was a certainty that his exertions would be 
crowned with success, this would furnish the 
greatest possible inducement. And shall we 
say that the most powerful motive will fail, 
when a much weaker one will answer the 
purpose? that a weight of five pounds will 
turn the scale, when one of ten, or of twenty 
will not? The two cases are sufficiently simi- 
lar to justify the illustration of the one by the 
other. The farmer has not even a probability, 
much less a certainty, that he will succeed 
without proper exertions: so he is nota Chris- 
_ tian but a presumptuous libeller of the Gospel 
who believes, or pretends to believe, that he 
will enjoy the happiness of heaven, without 
holiness, and holiness consists in the exercise 
of pious affections, and in the discharge of 
religious duties. If the farmer sows when 
there is only a probability that he shall reap, 
will not Christians “sow to the Spirit,” when 
there is a blessed assurance that “ of the Spirit 
they shall reap life everlasting??? The pur- 
pose of God is not to receive impenitent sin- 
ners to the joys of his kingdom, but to “ save 
them from their sins,” to ‘‘ work in them the 


254. LETTERS ON 


work of faith with power, to make them holy, 
and then admit them to his kingdom and 
glory.” 

That Christians do commit sin, is a mourn- 
ful truth that cannot be denied. That their 
faith becomes weak, their affections languid, 
their exertions feeble and irregular; that they 
sometimes slumber, and even sleep, must be 
admitted. But I think it probable, that if you 
could ask every Christian, from the beginning 
of the world to this day, whether his own 
declension in vital piety was-the consequence 
of his understanding and believing the doc- 
trine of final perseverance, he would answer, 
No; it was not. IfIam not mistaken, many 
of those who oppose this doctrine, of course, 
who do not believe it, and cannot be influenced 
by it, experience the same chills and slumber- 
ings in their affections, and feebleness in their 
exertions, which are so much to be deplored 
in others. Jf then this sad decline in them- 
selves is not, and cannot be the consequence 
of believing this doctrine, I hope they will not 
bring it as a charge against the doctrine, when 
believed by others. In both cases, the same 
effects should be ascribed to the same cause. 

That some have used unguarded expressions 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 955 


in attempting to illustrate and defend this doc- 
trine, I readily admit; nor will I deny that 
some professors of religion who live ungodly 
and wicked lives, may refer to their belief in 
this doctrine as the ground of their hope, that 
they will finally be saved. I cannot admit, 
however, that the doctrine itself is chargeable 
with the imprudence or absurdity of its pro- 
fessed advocates. ‘The Scripture is not charge- 
able with the error of those who wrest it; nor 
the Gospel with the guilt of those who pervert 
its pure and wholesome instructions. I do 
deny that we have sufficient authority for 
believing that those who live ungodly and 
irreligious lives are Christians, whatever they 
may profess. They may have a name that 
they live, while, in fact, they are dead. This 
doctrine is no more accountable for their un- 
godliness, than the Bible which condemns that 
ungodliness, and which they also profess to 
believe. If on this account we should re- 
nounce this doctrine, we have the same reason 
for rejecting also the sacred volume. | The 
real tendency of this doctrine is to be ascer- 
tained from its influence and effects on the 
heart and life of those who understand, believe, 
and love it; not from those who neither under- 


256 LETTERS ON 


stand, believe, nor love it; and who, thorgh 
its professed friends, are its secret enemies. 

If it be contended that Christians may fall 
from grace, I would not strenuously defend 
the contrary position. We know that Adam 
fell; and we know that all sin is dangerous. 
Nor does it appear to me, the correct mode of 
speaking to say, that Christians are in no dan- 
ger of falling. The sins of the children of 
God, as certainly meet his displeasure, as the 
sins of the unregenerate. Every sin is a de- 
parture from the rule of duty, according to 
which the favour of God may be expected. 
The tendency of all sin is, therefore, to sepa- 
rate from God. The position which I defend 
is, that Christians will not totally fall; and 
though in danger, in imminent danger, they 
will be shielded from that danger. Adam fell, 
it is true; but Adam, before his fall, though a 
pure and holy being, was not a Christian. No 
Mediator stood between him and his God; his 
purity was not purchased by the sufferings and 
the merit of a divine Saviour; no blood of 
infinite value was the pledge of his continuance 
in holiness. This, however, is the case with 
Christians. A divine Mediator, by his obe- 
dience and sufferings, has procured for them, 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 257 


complete and eternal salvation. But as there 
can be no salvation without holiness, therefore, 
holiness itself, is among the invaluable bles- 
sings, procured by the blood of the cross. 
The covenant between them and their God, is 
not only ordered, but sure. The foundation 
of their hopes is a sure foundation. Their 
perseverance is secured by the death of Christ. 
Jehovah is their God and Father; Jesus is 
their Mediator, their Redeemer, their Inter- 
cessor; the Holy Spirit is their Monitor, their 
Comforter. The cautions, the threatenings, 
the warnings, the admonitions, the entreaties, 
the promises, the invitations, the doctrines, the 

precepts of the Bible, with all the dispensa- 
tions of Providence, will be blessed as the 
means of their progress in the divine life. 
Not one of them shall perish; every one of 
them “ will enter into the joy of their Lord.”’ 


neni 


LETTER XX. 


THIS DOCTRINE GIVES SUCH VIEWS OF THE CHARACTER OF 
GOD AS ARE CALCULATED TO EXCITE DEVOTION.—CON- 
CLUSION. 

Tue Bible is our only infalliable guide; no 

system of doctrines, therefore, by what name 


258 LETTERS ON 


soever it may be designated, ought to be 
received, that is not clearly taught in the 
sacred volume. By giving us correct views 
of the character of God, and of ourselves, by 
teaching us the plan of salvation through a 
divine Saviour, by exciting every pious affec- 
tion of the heart, the Bible is intended, 
through the Holy Spirit, to prepare us for 
the worship and society of heaven, for the 
joys and glories of eternity. Its doctrines 
are according to godliness; it makes wise to 
salvation; it is able, or powerful to save the 
soul. Those doctrines which have the great- 
est tendency to promote holiness, are, for that 
reason, most worthy of our cordial acceptance. 
What then is the tendency of those views 
which have been given? In my opinion the 
sun is not more evidently intended, nor better 
calculated to warm and enlighten the earth, 
the eye is not more evidently fitted for the 
purposes of vision, than are these doctrines to 
enlighten and purify the mind; to make us, 
and keep us sincere, humble, devout, intelli- 
gent, and useful Christians. 

They represent the divine character sur- 
rounded with that glory and majesty which 
are calculated to excite the deepest reverence 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 259 


in our minds; and reverence is an indispen- 
sable feature in the character of all true wor- 
shippers of God. It isa character of fear and 
love. While the greatness of God bows the 
mind in devout awe, a view of his excellence 
attracts and elevates it by love. The great- 
ness of his goodness, of his wisdom and his 
power, is displayed in the most impressive 
manner. By one single act of his infinite 
mind he designed the creation and govern- 
ment of this world, with all its numberless 
varieties of inhabitants, with all its countless 
series of events. His high and holy purpose 
is One! To our ininds it may appear infinite- 
ly diversified, because it relates to an infinite 
diversity of objects and events; still, however, 
it is emphatically one; embracing the world 
with all its occurrences, through every period 
of its duration. 

The preservation and safety of one single 
individual requires the concurrence of-a great 
variety of causes, which are the effects of other 
causes which preceded them, still more numer- 
ous and diversified. Each of these must 
operate at a particular time, and in a particular 
order. The food that he eats is produced by 
the combined influence of the air, the sun, the 


260 LETTERS ON 


rain, the earth, and the toil of man. The 
clothing which defends and comforts him is 
derived from different sources, and prepared 
by different hands. The water which he 
drinks is collected from innumerable veins in 
the earth, and presented for his use in springs 
and rivulets. The air which he breathes is 
prepared in a manner so recondite as to baffle 
all human discovery. Besides, he walks every 
day in the midst of threatening dangers, from 
which he must be continually shielded. All 
these events were designed by the wisdom, 
and brought to pass by the power of God, at 
the proper time and in the proper order. 

Our impressions of greatness are often the 
result of comparison. Compared with the 
wisdom and power of God, how does the 
wisdom and intelligence of man disappear and 
shrink into nothing, and his power become 
perfect imbecility ? The mathematical disco- 
veries of Napier and Newton have surreunded 
their names with unfading renown. But 
suppose either of these men, distinguished for 
their talents, had been required to devise the 
means of preservation and safety to man for 
one single year, how utterly insufficient for 
the task must they have felt themselves to be! 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 261 


Faint, indeed, would have been their glory, 
compared with what it deservedly is, had it 
depended on their discovering the manner in 
which the means, provided by the wisdom 
and power of God, secure this preservation 
and safety. If the man who discovers the 
relation of numbers, who carries his researches 
a little beyond the mere surface, and discovers 
a few more properties of matter than were 
formerly known; while he confesses that 
there are other relations, and other properties 
yet undiscovered ; relations and properties 
too, which really existed before; which he 
neither devised nor caused; if this man re- 
ceives the applause of the civilized world; 
how inexpressible should be our pious admi- 
ration of the character of God, who designed 
and brought into existence all these relations 
and properties! No philosopher can devise 
the means of his own safety, or even compre- 
hend how that safety is secured by the means 
otherwise provided. Either this invention or 
this discovery would raise him, in our estima- 
tion, above the grade of human beings. Yet 
these are the common and daily operations of 
Jehovah! His wisdom arranged these means, 
his power secures their concurrence, he per- 


262 LETTERS ON 


fectly understands the\manner of this opera- 
tion, not merely for one year, but for every 
successive year of life. The same wisdom, 
power, and goodness, have been employed in 
preserving all the numerous millions of man- 
kind who have, who do now, or shall hereafter 
live upon the earth. The same guardian care 
is extended to the beasts of the field, to the 
fowls of the air, to the fishes of the sea, to all 
creeping things, to insects, to mites, though 
their existence should be but for a day or an 
hour. They are all his creatures. Their 
creation is embraced in his plan; so also is 
their preservation. Not one of them,. even 
the smallest, is forgotten before God. The 
concurrence of all these causes, varied to suit 
their different natures, is perfectly secured by 
his immutable purpose. - Add to this his 
unceasing and decisive control over all inani- 
mate matter. The winds and the sea obey 
him: the torrent rushes at his command: the 
lightnings flash, the thunders roar at his word: 
the earth trembles and quakes at his touch. 
There is not a particle, not an atom in air, in. 
earth, or sea, that is not as distinctly known 
to him, and as completely under the influence 
of his government, as the great globe itself. 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 2°63 


The creation, the position and movemients of 
each atom are his work, and accomplished 
according to his purpose. Add to this, his 
influence over the minds of men, using them 
as instruments in effecting the designs of his 
providence; an influence explicitly ascribed to 
him in Scripture. ‘“ He fashioneth their hearts 
alike.” The king’s heart, and by conse- 
quence, the hearts of all his subjects, “is in 
the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water; 
he turneth it whithersoever he will.?? Psalm 
XXxll. 15; Jobvi.21. “Blessed be the Lord 
God of our fathers who hath put such a thing 
as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the 
house of the Lord which is at Jerusalem.” 
Eizra vii. 27. This king was an idolater, not 
a worshipper of Jehovah; and yet what he did 
was put into his heart by the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. The divine influence over 
the mind of Cyrus has already been consi- 
dered. ‘To govern our own thoughts, affec- 
tions, and desires has ever been found, if not 
impossible at least a very difficult task. It is 
only through the aid of divine grace that we 
can succeed in any tolerable degree. How- 
much more difficult is it to govern the thoughts 
and desires of another individual. We cannot 


264 LETTERS ON 


even know these thoughts and desires, except 
through the medium of external signs. We 
may indeed use means for this purpose; and 
our efforts may be crowned with some partial 
success; but to exercise a complete control 
over the mind of another, for one day, or even 
one hour, is just as impossible as to create that 
mind. Those things, however, which are im- 
possible with men, are possible with God. If 
I have not entirely mistaken the meaning of 
the passages just quoted, with many others 
that might be mentioned, this is effected ina 
manner perfectly consistent with the moral 
agency of man, by the wisdom and power of 
God, just so far as the designs of his provi- 
dence require; over not only one, but over 
each individual of the human race, not merely 
for a day, or an hour, but through every day 
and every hour of his whole life. There is 
~ not one thought conceived in the mind, that is 
not as dintinctly known to God as the mind 
in which it is conceived. “QO, Lord, thou 
knowest my thoughts afar off.” “The Lord 
knoweth the thoughts of man.” If one 
thought escaped his influence, so would also 
the consequences flowing from it. Very great 
events may be traced back to one single 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 265 


thought in the mind of some individual. One 
may give rise to a long train of other thoughts 
which, generating correspondent affections and 
desires, ripen into purposes, and thus lead to 
important results. The thoughts, desires, and 
affections of men are incalculably more nume- 
rous than their words and actions. The body 
must have rest; the tongue is often silent: but 
the operations and feelings of the mind are 
always progressing and always changing. Nu- 
merous, complicated, and mutable as they are, 
they are all subject to the control of divine 
wisdom and power. In like manner over the 
whole universe Jehovah reigns, with perfect 
ease and certainty, accomplishing his purpose 
without a single mistake, or a single failure. 
This scheme of Providence, so vast, com- 
plicated, and incomprehensible to the view of 
man, is, at the same time subservient to ano- 
ther plan, still more glorious, intended to dis- 
play more fully the divine character, to give 
more correct and exalted views to man, and 
awaken in his heart feelings more sublime and 
worthy of God; that is, the plan of redemp- 
tion through the cross of Jesus the Saviour. 
As food is subservient to the preservation of 
man, so the whole system of providence is 
23 


266 LETTERS ON 


subservient to the salvation of guilty sinners. 
In this wonderful work, sovereign mercy, for- 
bearance, and compassion mingle their rays 
with those of-divine wisdom, goodness, and 
power, and display the greatness, the majesty, 
and loveliness of the Deity in a light more 
interesting and more attractive not only to 
man, but to all holy intelligent beings. This 
subserviency and this connexion, impart. to 
the events of time a character of greatness 
which they would not otherwise possess. Over 
this kingdom of grace, reigns a Divine Re- 
deemer, to whom all power in heaven and 
earth is given; for whom, and by whom, all 
things, visible and invisible, were created; 
under whose authority all ranks of intelligent 
creatures are placed. This earth is but the 
humble theatre on which the Saviour displays 
and executes the designs of wisdom and mercy, 
in the salvation of unworthy criminals, All 
the great revolutions among the nations of this 
world are the means of promoting the prospe- 
rity of this kingdom. The commencement, 
the progress, and the conclusion of this dispen- 
sation of grace, will all be according to the 
purpose of God. The birth, the life, the suf- 
ferings, the death, the resurrection, and ascen- 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 2°67 


sion of the Saviour were all according to 
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
God. When sinners are called, regenerated, 
and sanctified; when they enter on the pos- 
session of their inheritance in heaven, it is 
according to his eternal purpose. All the 
means necessary to produce these gracious and 
glorious effects, with all the causes on which 
these means themselves depended, whether, in 
our estimation, they be great or small, are 
secured in their proper time, order, and degree, 
by the same unchangeable design of Jehovah. 
The day for the last act, in the administration 
of this kingdom, the most awful, solemn, and 
sublime scene the universe will ever witness, 
was fixed from all eternity. “He hath ap- 
pointed a day in which he will judge the 
world.” Then shall the purposes of God, 
requiring the existence and preservation of 
this earth be accomplished. Then shall all 
the vast and amazing schemes of Providence 
come to a close. Then shall the still more 
astonishing and glorious purposes of grace be 
completed. Then shall mercy have offered 
her last pardon, have selected and prepared 
her last vessel; then shall forbearance have 
waited her last moment; then shall compassion 


968 LETTERS ON 


have shed her last tear. Then “he who is: 
filthy, shall be filthy for ever; then he who is 
holy, shall be holy for ever.”’ Then shall the 
kingdom be delivered up to the Father, that 
God may be all in all. Then shall the glory 
of God, the ultimate object of creation, provi- 
dence, and redemption, shine forth in all its 
brightness. Inspired with new ardour and 
delight, with new sentiments of gratitude and 
love, of reverence and awe, then shall the hea- 
venly hosts unite in ascribing, “ Blessing, and 
honour, and glory, and power to Him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for 
ever and ever.”? Then shall the redeemed of 
the Lord add their chorus, in which even 
angels cannot join; “ Unto Him who loved us, 
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
be glory and deminion, for ever and ever, 
Amen.” 

Now, my friend, permit me to ask you seri- 
ously, what think you of these doctrines? Are 
they true; are they scriptural; are they worthy 
of God; are they consistent with all that we 
know of his character, and calculated to bring 
glory to his name; are they suited to the sinful, 
wretched, and helpless condition of man; are 
they comforting, strengthening, and cheering 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 269 


to the Christian? If they are, then hold fast 
the form of sound words, and even contend, 
not furiously, not with the bitter zeal of party 
spirit, but with meekness, humility, and bro- 
therly love, “contend earnestly for the faith, 
once delivered to the saints.’’ 

You ascribe the preservation of your life, 
and your hope of salvation to God; and for 
these blessings you are grateful. By this 
gratitude, you acknowledge that these are 
invaluable favours; and favours too, which 
you do not deserve. Will you be less thank- 
ful if you believe that they are bestowed 
according to an intention of your great bene- 
factor? Will it check, will it diminish, will it 
not rather increase your grateful emotions to 
believe that this intention was formed and 
existed before the foundation of the world ? 

Let me suppose, what is not, and I hope 
never will be the fact, that you are in a state 
of indigence, suffering for the want, not only 
of the comforts, but even the necessaries of 
life; and that you shall receive something 
valuable from a man who is a maniac, whose 
actions, of course, are performed without rea- 
son and without design. In the enjoyment of 
what you had received you would feel glad, 


270 LETTERS ON 


but not thankful, unless to Providence which 
controls even the actions of the maniac; but 
you would feel no gratitude to this man; 
because you would be convinced that he had 
no intention to relieve your distress, and felt 
no benevolence towards you. Even your 
pleasure would be that of mere animal nature, 
without awakening one moral sentiment of the 
heart. Suppose your neighbour should make 
you a present of such a nature, and at such 
time, as would justify you in saying, this is 
the very thing which I wanted; it is exactly 
suited to my necessities; my neighbour must 
have known my situation, and intended to re- 
lieve my sufferings. In the enjoyment of this 
you would feel not only the gladness of anima! 
nature, but the most lively sentiments of gra- 
titude, which would have an immediate object, 
clearly indicated by this design to relieve your 
wants. The knowledge of this design would 
have another happy effect on your mind, it 
would convince you that, as your benefactor 
was under no obligation to confer this favour, 
he was prompted to form and execute this 
design by pure and active benevolence. The 
knowledge of this benevolence would awaken 
your love to the man. This gratitude and 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 271 


this love would increase even the gladness of 
animal nature, and render doubly valuable and 
welcome the relief you received. If your 
neighbour should inform you that this design 
had been formed a year ago; that during this 
time he was preparing and selecting the arti- 
cles, now presented; that he only waited till 
the proper time should arrive, when you 
would be in the greatest need, when, of 
course, his charity would do you the most 
good, I venture to affirm that this information 
would not diminish, but very much increase 
your gratitude and love. If you were also 
informed that your neighbour was habitually 
engaged in relieving other sufferers, this would 
increase, at least, your love to the man; be- 
cause it would prove that benevolence was a 
fixed and active principle of his heart; and 
that he was a worthy object of this love. 

The application of this supposed case to the 
one under consideration, is plain and easy. 
God is the preserver of your life; and has 
given you through grace, good hope and sal- 
vation. Will not your belief, that these 
unmerited favours flow from design, increase 
your gratitude and love to your merciful Be- 
nefactor? If you could receive those favours 


Q72 - LETTERS ON 


without this belief, you could, on their account, 
feel neither gratitude nor love to God. What- 
ever gladness you might feel, it would be the 
gladness of mere animal nature, of the animal 
man, with which no devout sentiments would 
mingle. This belief is the main spring, is the 
exciting cause of your gratitude and love; be- 
cause this design proves the benevolence of 
“the Father of lights,’ or as the Apostle John 
expresses it, that ‘‘God is love.”? You see the 
boundless exhibitions of this benevolence in 
the preservation of all mankind, according to 
the wise and holy purpose of God. Look 
around, and you will see alas! not all, but 
thousands and millions of the human race, 
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rejoi- 
cing in the same hope which cheers your own 
heart. This will deepen the devout and pleas- 
ing conviction that benevolence and merey 
are immutable and active principles in the 
divine character, and confirm your belief that 
God is, not only a proper object, but the only 
proper object of your supreme love. 

If you believe that these favours are con- 
ferred according to design, you must believe 
that this design was formed, and existed, in 
the divine mind, before the blessings were 


THE DIVINE PURPOSE. PAY ES 


bestowed, and if you believe that it existed 
before, though but for one day, or even one 
hour, you cannot, without the greatest. absur- 
dity, refuse to believe that it existed from all 
eternity. Instead of rejecting, you ought to 
rejoice in this belief; for it exhibits the cha- 
racter of God, clothed with infinite majesty, 
loveliness, and attraction. The preservation 
of your life and your hope of salvation, at this 
moment, depend on the means which God has 
employed and blessed for this purpose. These 
means are the effect of causes which preceded 
them, and these again of others; and thus, in 
unbroken connexion, to the beginning of time. 
The great Parent of the universe, with a per- 
fect knowledge of all your necessities, looking 
forward with a benevolent and merciful eye, 
set in operation a series of events, which, under 
the constant guidance of his watchful and om- 
nipotent care, has secured your present safety 
and happiness. The commencement of this 
series, with every subsequent movement and 
stage of its progress, are as much according to 
design, as are its present effects. Has the doc- 
trine any thing in it forbidding and repulsive, 
which represents your Heavenly Father, when 
the foundation of the earth was laid, according 
24. 


274 LETTERS ON 


to the purpose of his infinite wisdom, setting 
in operation that chain of causes and effects, 
intended to issue in your temporal comfort 
and safety, and in your eternal salvation? If 
this is forbidden and repulsive, then, what is, 
or what can be lovely and attractive? If the 
design is eternal, so also are the benevolence 
and mercy, displayed in its execution. Can 
the belief that the goodness which now sus- 
tains and surrounds you with comforts, and 
fills you with “ joy and peace in believing,” is 
eternal, fail to have a most happy and power- 
ful effect on your mind? Nor can you believe 
that the divine benevolence is an inactive, dor- 
mant principle; it is infinitely active and 
powerful. But how could it act in reference 
to you, how could it sustain and comfort you, 
how could it relieve your wants, until you 
existed and were in need of these blessings? 
The only way in which it could act towards 
you, before your life commenced, and before 
your wants existed, was by forming a design 
and making provision to watch over and pre- 
serve that life when it commenced, and to 
relieve these wants as they occurred. ‘This is 
the very thing which has been done. This 
design is wise, as well as good. Divine wis- 


ar a 
t 


THE DIVINE PURPOSRE. 975 


dom selected the particular time and circum- 
stances when the bestowment of these favours 
would produce the happiest effect not only on 
yourself, but on the whole universe. Had 
they been given either sooner or later than the 
time which infinite wisdom selected, the good 
effect, if any at all, must have been less than it 
is. And as the bestowment of these blessings 
is intended to impress, to warm, to expand, to 
elevate, and purify your heart, not only through 
life, but through an endless duration, it is 
right, it is to be expected from the character 
of God, that they will be conferred at the very 
moment when they will produce the greatest 
possible effect. Thus, during the current of all 
preceding ages, provision was making for your 
safety; causes, and effects were maturing and 
converging toward the production of that hope 
which you now cherish; so in the events of 
time, provision is making for the sublime en- 


joyment and glories of eternity. 


I cannot see how you can escape the conclu- 
sion, that the benevolence, the mercy and the 
purpose of God, clearly displayed in your pre- 
sent safety and comfort, are as eternal as the 
divine mind in which they exist. In the pos- 
session of this belief, so honourable and glori- 


276 LETTERS ON THE DIVINE PURPOSE. 


ous to God, so well calculated to direct, com- 
fort, and support you through the trials of this 
world, and to prepare you for the rewards of 
grace in the world to come, with my earnest 
prayers for your prosperity, both in time and 
eternity, for the present, I bid you adieu. 


THE END. 


1 ire S 


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